LAHAINA — On Thursday, Dec. 17, members of the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset delivered 35 gifts for the keiki at Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center in Lahaina.

Angel Tree tags were made available at American Savings Bank in Old Lahaina Center by President Vanessa Moreno. Project Chairs Katie Zimmerman and Sara Foley worked with Misty Bannister, childrens’ services coordinator, to secure names and gift requests from children ages 3-16.

Each Angel Tree card included information about the child’s gender, age, clothing sizes, hobbies and wishes.

Members met at the shelter at 10 a.m. to deliver the gifts in person while practicing social distancing guidelines.

Bannister and Ka Hale O Ke Ola Executive Director Monique Ibarra accepted the gifts. Each gift was delivered unwrapped, and the club purchased wrapping paper, gifts and ribbons, so that the parents could wrap their childrens’ gifts.

Along with the gifts from the members of the Lahaina Sunset Rotary, two large bags of toys were delivered from 5A Rent-a-Space. In past years, 5A has collected toys for kids in need that were donated to Pastor Laki Kaahumanu and his charity. Due to the pandemic, Pastor Laki was unable to host this program, and the collected toys were donated to the resource center.

Bannister said, “We are so grateful for the kind and very generous friends we have at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset. They really went above and beyond to fulfill the wishes of the keiki at our Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Shelter in Lahaina.

“I feel blessed with the gift of meeting these amazing people and connecting them with our precious keiki. Generous members of this club have certainly blessed our youth and their families, and they most definitely have blessed us with such a beautiful friendship. We are forever grateful.”

The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset is meeting virtually online via Zoom. Meeting speakers are posted on the club’s website at http://www.rotarycluboflahainasunset.org.

Guests are welcome to join the virtual meetings. Contact Past President Mariko Higashi at marikoinmaui@gmail.com for the Zoom link for the meetings.