Maui Schools Benefit from $10,000 A&B Grant

Kahului School students play with new equipment donated from the A&B Foundation. Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The Alexander & Baldwin Foundation delivered playground equipment to elementary schools on Maui today as part of a $10,000 donation to support physical activity and nutrition.

The equipment–which includes more than 600 balls, and several hundred hula hoops, jump ropes and boundary markers–will be used exclusively for the Fun 5 program at elementary schools on Maui and Kauai.

Fun 5 is a physical activity and nutrition program manged by the non-profit Kaho’omiki organization. On Maui, the program serves more than 3,000 kids through the Department of Education’s A-Plus after school program.

The funds will be used for playground equipment and items to support after school activities at Makawao, Kahului, Lihikai, Paia, Waihee, Haiku, Pomaikai, Pukalani, and Wailuku elementary schools on Maui.

Alexander & Baldwin Senior Vice President Meredith Ching said, “A&B is pleased to support Maui’s children and its schools by providing new fitness equipment for their playgrounds and after school programs.

“We believe physical activity builds strong bodies and minds in our children, and creates healthy habits that can be both fun and lifelong,” said Ching.

Kahului School students play with new equipment donated from the A&B Foundation. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Paula Adams, Program Director for Fun 5, and the president of Kaho`omiki said the equipment is vital to the continued physical activity of kids on Maui and Kauai.

“Without this equipment, there is no Fun 5 program because schools are not able to provide this equipment on their own.  The 30-plus minutes of physical activity they receive regularly, along with the nutrition education, helps them develop a healthy lifestyle while having fun,” said Adams.

Kaho’omiki is the same organization that manages the Aloha State Games, the Hawaii Senior Olympics, and the 5210 Keiki Fun Runs.

The A&B Foundation has been funded by the business activities of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. and its subsidiaries. On Maui, these subsidiaries include: Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, East Maui Irrigation Company, Kahului Trucking & Storage, Inc., A&B Properties, Inc., and Matson Navigation Company.

Officials from the A&B Foundation deliver new playground equipment to students at Kahului School. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Kahului School students play with new equipment donated from the A&B Foundation. Photo by Wendy Osher.