Question: I’ve been cleaning out closets, and I have sewing and craft supplies that are in perfect condition. You mentioned the women’s prison (808ne.ws/april13kline), but my mobility is limited and I need a place in town to drop this stuff off. Do you know of any charity or nonprofit that could take them?
Answer: Yes. Kokua Line has received a flurry of similar questions in recent weeks, whether from spring cleaners like you or from “giver-uppers” such as the reader who has quit her New Year’s resolution to learn knitting and will feel better once she finds a good home for yarn left over from her short-lived hobby.
So we looked for an organization in town that would accept a variety of sewing and crafting materials and which has nonprofit status allowing for tax-deductible, in-kind gifts. The Woman’s Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands, which is affiliated with the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ, fits the bill on those counts, plus it supports a range of programs — providing a broad impact from a single donation point.
Executive Director Clara Preister provided a short list of places and programs the board assists:
>> UCC Transition House, a safe house in Hawaii for women and their children who are survivors of domestic violence
>> Youth Outreach, a service of Waikiki Health that provides hot meals, clothing, medical care and basic necessities for homeless youth and young adults
>> Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua
>> Young Lives O‘ahu, an outreach to teen mothers and their babies
>> HELP Asia Women’s Shelter in Japan, a safe haven for women and their children
>> Operation Christmas Child, a shoe-box ministry
>> UCCP Pasuquin Learning Center, a preschool in an impoverished village in the Philippines
>> ZOE International, a Christian anti-human-trafficking organization focused on rescuing children from sex trafficking
The Woman’s Board welcomes donations of fabrics, particularly larger pieces, and notions like zippers, threads, buttons, elastic, sewing scissors, seam rippers, elastic, marking tools, pins and pin cushions, Preister said. It also accepts new yarn and certain other craft supplies.
Such donations would most immediately supplement sewing and art programs at the women’s prison; a sewing circle on Kauai that fosters entrepreneurship among Marshallese women; and a sewing circle whose members sell items they make to help feed children at the UCCP Pasuquin Learning Center, Preister said.
To schedule a dropoff at the group’s Nuuanu office or to confirm that your items are needed, call 791-5647 or email wbmhawaii@gmail.com.
From a reader
“Just an idea for folks like Marsha (808ne.ws/419kline) and me who get lost in parking lots: If you have a smartphone, take a picture of the level of the garage and lot number and try to park where you can identify something to help find your car. Many years ago I lost my car for about two hours at Ala Moana. I was only 19 at the time and finally figured out that I was on the wrong level near Liberty House — yes, it was still Liberty House. I have also lost my car at Costco and Wal-Mart, so that little trick has saved my bacon more than once.” — M.G.
Mahalo
As I was getting out of a car driven by my husband last week, I lost my footing, and I spun around uncontrollably until I finally landed on my back on a grassy area next to a sidewalk. Two ladies in the area came to pull me up, and nearby was a young man, Matthew, who helped me cross the street and took me to an office near Physicians Office Building II next to The Queen’s Medical Center. Mahalo to the three angels. No broken bones; I am OK (at almost 79 years old). Lucky we live Hawaii. — E.M.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
