With the start of the 2012-13 school year nearing, some parents can’t afford to buy school supplies for their children.

Recognizing this need, each year Helping Hands Hawaii’s Ready to Learn program provides more than 12,000 low-income Hawaii children with new classroom supplies at the start of the school year.

Maui residents can support Ready to Learn by donating school supplies or money at Central Pacific Bank branches throughout July.

“As families experience hardships, tasks such as purchasing school supplies become difficult, and many children face returning to school without essential learning materials,” said John C. Dean, president and CEO of Central Pacific Bank.

“It is our purpose to ensure that our keiki return to school with the tools needed for them to learn and excel.”

All school supply donations are welcome, including crayons, scissors, notebooks, portfolios, folder paper, erasers, No. 2 pencils, glue, calculators, rulers, composition books and backpacks.

Or, a donation of just $10 will buy a backpack filled with all the items needed to prepare a student for the new school year.

Jan Harada, president and CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii, said, “It is critical that children start the school year off on the right foot, and Ready to Learn is about improving their chances of educational success by helping them to have a better educational experience.”

School supplies and monetary donations collected at Maui Central Pacific Bank branches will be distributed on the Valley Isle. For more information, call (808) 544-0500 or 1-800-342-8422, or visit www.centralpacificbank.com.