APO Hawaii gears up for its annual School Supplies Drive for the school year 2023-2024 and is making arrangements with Walmart-Kapolei to set up a collection by the store's entrance. All supplies collected will be turned over to Honowai Elementary School, a public elementary school in Waipahu where over 70 percent of its student population are identified to be coming from low-income families.  The choice of a school recipient is based on the Hawaii Department of Education’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) list determined by the number of students receiving full- or reduced-price student meals. 

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In the summer of 2022, APO Hawaii launched a new program to help students in a public school who are identified to be from low-income families. This is the School Supplies Drive that is geared toward soliciting and collecting supplies that are needed by students at Honowai Elementary School.

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The choice of Honowai Elementary is based on the Hawaii Department of Education’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) list of schools serving low-income children. Over 70 percent of the Honowai Elementary children come from low-income families as determined by the number of students receiving full- or reduced-price student meals. Over 60 percent of the student population is of Filipino ancestry.

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Last year, APO Hawaii collected school supplies worth over $700, thanks to the generous support of Walmart at Waipahu which donated a $ 300 gift card, APO members, and the community. Walmart at Kapolei also allowed us to set up a collection table by the store entrance.

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This year, APO Hawaii is undertaking the same project and hopes to gather a good amount of school supplies for the Honowai keiki.