Free School Supply Giveaway this Saturday in Puna

The Neighborhood Place of Puna and the Puna Roundtable Ready to Learn Committee will offer the 8^th Annual Free School Supplies distribution in Puna this Saturday, July 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or until supplies are gone.

Free school supplies for children in grades K-12 will be distributed at two locations in Puna: St. Theresa’s Parish Hall in Mountain View and Maku‘u Farmers Market on Keaau-Pahoa Road.

While the supplies are free, adults must be accompanied by their school age children.  Keiki ID will also be available.

Items to be distributed for each child in grades K-5 include: one set colored markers, two composition books, four pocket portfolios, one ruler, one 24-count package of crayons, and one scissor. Items to be distributed for each child in grades 6-12 include: four pencils, one 8-ounce glue, three pens, one ruler, one binder paper, and one three-ring binder.

It’s been a busy month for Neighborhood Place of Puna, which provides support and services to families at risk for child abuse and neglect. On July 2, the organization opened an office in Hilo at 350 Lehua Street, just off of Wainaku Avenue.

“I’m very excited about the Hilo office,” says Paul Normann, executive director of Neighborhood Place of Puna. “Over the years, Neighborhood Place of Puna has gotten a lot of request from Hilo families for services. Unfortunately, in the past, we’ve had to turn them down. With the opening of our Hilo office, we’ll now have the staff to help these Hilo families.”

Neighborhood Place of Puna provides a variety of free and confidential services to families with children under 18 years of age. In-home, family support services might include: financial literacy training, basic parenting skills, age appropriate discipline, basic life skills, connecting parents to available resources, advocacy, helping parents understand their children’s developmental stages, encouraging positive parenting, and more.

This is the third location for Neighborhood Place of Puna, which also has offices in Pahoa and Mountain View. Offices are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information on the upcoming free school supply giveaway or on services offered by Neighborhood place of Puna call 965-5550 or email [email protected].