Bank Donation Drive Aims to Give Keiki Classroom Supplies to Succeed

Helping Hands Hawai‘i and American Savings Bank are partnering for the eighth year to help Hawai‘i’s keiki prepare for school through the Ready to Learn program.

Stop by any ASB branch in the state from June 13 to July 15 to make a monetary or school supply donation that will support children from low-income and houseless families, giving them an opportunity to participate and excel in the classroom.

Donations collected on the neighbor islands will benefit local students through HHH’s partnerships with on-island service providers.

“Our Ready to Learn℠ program has a tradition of supporting the community and provides kids with free educational kits containing essential school supplies each fall,” said HHH President and CEO Susan Furuta. “And we couldn’t provide this assistance without business partners like ASB, who are invested in the well-being of keiki throughout the state.”

Donations received through this partnership supplement pre-ordered inventory purchased with donated and grant-awarded funds for students from K to 12th grade. The school supply kits contain an array of the most common items found on the Department of Education’s back-to-school lists. Each kit is valued at approximately $30 and the goal is to distribute 1,000 kits to students.

The items needed to assemble school supply kits are:

Backpacks Erasers Markers (Assorted Colors)
Ballpoint Pens (Black or Blue) Face Masks Pencils (Colored)
Composition Books (Wide Ruled) Folder Papers Pencil (No. 2)
Crayons (24 Count) Glue (4 Ounces) Permanent Markers (Black)
Dry Erase Markers Hand Sanitizers Portfolios (2 Pockets)
Earbuds with Microphone Highlighters (Yellow) USB Flash Drives

In addition to donating at the nearest American Savings Bank location, individuals, organizations and corporations can organize their own fundraising drives or volunteer by completing a Community Partner Form. An RTL team member will follow up with additional information and assistance. A list of RTL Community Partners and donation drop-off locations will be listed at www.HelpingHandsHawaii.org as information becomes available.

Additionally, the public can donate to the RTL program using the following methods:

Online: Visit www.HelpingHandsHawaii.org and click on the “Donate” button to make a gift. Select “Ready to Learn” from the drop-down menu.

Mail: Checks should be made payable to Helping Hands Hawaii and mailed to: Ready to Learn Program, c/o Helping Hands Hawaii, 2100 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu, HI 96819. Write “Ready to Learn” in the memo line.

In-Person: Cash, check and school supply donations are accepted at all ASB branches from June 13 to July 15 or at Helping Hands Hawaii on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (no appointment needed). For a list of ASB branches, visit www.asbhawaii.com/locations.