The Wailea Community Association is joining with Friends of the Children's Justice Center of Maui to hold its 10th annual Keiki Kalikimaka Toy Drive, said Bud Pikrone, the association's general manager.
New, unwrapped toys will be collected through Friday at the Wailea Fire Station and other locations throughout the resort where brick-chimneylike "toy drop boxes" have been set up.
"Toys collected at these locations will be gathered by our volunteer elves and distributed to over 25 different human services agencies in Maui County. Friends of the Children's Justice Center of Maui receives requests from many agencies year round and last year provided 1,500 children with Christmas gifts. Recipients include Maui Family Support Services, Child and Family Services, Women Helping Women Maui, Child Welfare Services (and) Malama Family Recovery, and the list continues to grow," said Randy Echito, executive director of FOCJC.
Wailea Resort hotels along with condominium and homeowners associations also will be collecting toys.
"Many organizations came up with creative ideas to collect the toys, such as an interoffice holiday potluck where employees brought a child's gift to donate instead of their exchanging gifts with each other," said Pikrone. "This is a time to come together as a community to share aloha and provide Maui's keiki a smile on Christmas morning."
"While we are always very happy to get any gift that someone wants to give, the following age groups tend to be the ones that are often overlooked," said Echito.
* 1- to 2-year-old boys and girls: developmental toys such as blocks, pull toys, beginner books.
* 7- to 8-year-old boys and girls: board games and books as well as construction toys like Legos for boys, and macram or jewelry-making sets for girls.
* 9- to 12-year-olds: sports equipment or watches for boys; for girls, watches, bracelets (no earrings) or small handbags (nothing too mature). Series books such as Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Percy Jackson, etc. are good as well.
* Teens enjoy gift cards ($20 or less) the most.
Pikrone also noted that "monetary donations are greatly appreciated, as this will allow us to purchase educational toys in addition to those collected in our drop boxes." Checks can be made payable to Wailea Community Association and designated "Toys for Kids."
