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Demand for the Waikiki Community Center’s preschool has grown so much that the nonprofit is closing its longtime thrift store next month to allow its keiki program to expand.
Caroline Hayashi, the center’s executive director, said the nonprofit has run out of premier Waikiki space to meet the needs of kupuna and keiki, who are its main focus. The center, at 310 Paoakalani Ave., will close its thrift store April 14 to add classroom space to its preschool, which serves mostly low- to moderate-income students.
“The preschool is full. We added a classroom last year. This year there is still more demand,” Hayashi said. “When I came in 2013, we had 35 preschool kids. Now we are at 76, but we want to increase our license to a little over 100.”
| DUKE KAHANAMOKU BEACH CHALLENGE
Proceeds from the race benefit Waikiki Community Center.
>> When: May 7, 9 a.m to 2 p.m.
>> Where: Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
>> Fundraising goal: $100,000
>> How it works: Groups of 10 enter to participate in a canoe race, a two-man kayak race and a stand-up paddleboard competition. It costs $1,500 to enter a group, but sponsorship options go up to $30,000 for a title sponsorship.
>> For more information: Contact Jill Okimura at 923-1802, ext. 108, or jokimura@waikikicommunitycenter.org.
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In order to open a sixth preschool classroom by August, Hayashi said, the center must move the preschool teacher’s room to the thrift store space.
“We are required to have a teacher’s room for accreditation purposes,” she said. “This move doesn’t suggest that we don’t understand the value of the thrift shop. It was a very difficult decision, but all of our services are growing. Senior programs alone are up more than 30 percent. If someone were willing to give us space in Waikiki, we would gladly move it.”
Lydia Matias Chadick, the center’s thrift store manager, said dozens of unhappy Waikiki residents have signed her petition to keep the center open.
“I’ve been working at the thrift store two years as a volunteer and one year as a manager, and I’ve really gotten to know the people who come to shop there. They really count on the store; it’s their life,” Chadick told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I felt I needed to do something. ”
Longtime thrift store shopper Patrick Chatham said Tuesday that Waikiki’s budget-minded and homeless residents shop at the thrift store, where patrons can get a couple of shirts for $1. The store also attracts tourists and newcomers who need condominium supplies, Chatham said.
“My mother, Ruth, and I have been coming here forever. It’s the best place in the whole world. I don’t care how much money you got, bargains are good for everyone,” he said.
Cynthia King, who has lived near the thrift since it opened more than 30 years ago, said it’s a neighborhood gathering place.
“I’ve met lifetime friends here,” King said Tuesday. “There are very few places like this left.”
Chadick reached out to state Rep. Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana) for assistance. But Brower told the Star-Advertiser on Monday that he would not get involved in the store’s closure.
“It’s a situation where I’m sure all of us would like the thrift store to stay, but I think the Waikiki Community Center is acting in good faith,” Brower said. “I’ve been to the thrift store a few times in the last few years, and from my experience, they didn’t have a lot of retail space or a lot of traffic.”
Hayashi said the store’s fiscal performance was break-even. The center, which has been in the black since 2013, is funded mostly from the Duke Kahanamoku Beach Challenge, which will be held May 7 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, and from its Waikiki Lights gala event, which will be held Sept. 29.
“We’re hoping to raise $100,000 at the challenge and $450,000 at the Waikiki Lights,” Hayashi said. “If we achieve those goals, it will be the most that we’ve ever raised. We need the money to fund growth of our core keiki and senior programs.”
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