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Lahainaluna Rotary Interact Club sends packages to children in the Philippines

By Staff | Mar 7, 2019

From left, Kyle Killett, Chuck Dicker, Skeeter Stebbins, Jay Baptista, Brianna Bandy and Uli Kirkegaard are all smiles while the Lahainaluna Interact Club accepts the $1,500 check from the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunrise. Dicker, Stebbins and Kirkegaard are Rotarians.

LAHAINA – Bouncy balls, toothbrushes, hair accessories, rubber slippers, school supplies and lots more greeted excited children in the Philippines when they opened their boxes from the Lahainaluna High School Rotary Interact Club recently.

Dubbed the “Shoebox Project,” Lahainaluna Interact students partnered with Rotary Clubs in California to send almost 300 boxes to children in need. This is the second year that the Lahainaluna club has participated in this worthwhile project.

The Lahainaluna Interact Club raised money for this and other service projects from the sale of cell phone wallets printed with the Lahainaluna logo. The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunrise offered to match the Lahainaluna club’s funds if they could raise $750.

In short order, the Lahainaluna club reached that ambitious goal. Impressed with the students’ hard work, Rotarian Uli Kirkegaard donated another $750 from his winnings at the weekly drawing to the Lahainaluna students for their service projects.

Other service projects the Lahainaluna Interact Club has participated in include goodie bags for staff and teachers at Lahainaluna High School, Easter baskets for kids at Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center and gifts for seniors.

Jay Baptista, Lahainaluna Interact president, stated, “Our Lahainaluna Interact Club decides annually to fund an international humanitarian initiative (like the Shoebox Project). Not only are we grateful for eager young individuals with a drive for serving the greater good, but also a supportive community that makes our efforts possible.”

The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunrise presented the Interact Club with a $1,500 check at a recent Rotary Interact meeting at Lahainaluna.

The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunrise meets every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. at the Pioneer Inn for a breakfast meeting. All are welcome.

The meeting fee, which includes a full breakfast, is $10.