Hilo police and Neighborhood Place of Puna launch school-supply drive

East Hawaii families will be able to stock up on backpacks, pencils, notebooks and other basics through a school-supply drive that organizers say is meant to meet a real budget strain, not just stage a symbolic giveaway. The South Hilo Community Policing Section is partnering with Neighborhood Place of Puna for Stuff Da Bus, a July 19 event built around collecting and distributing 700 backpacks filled with school supplies.

The drive-through event will run from noon to 4 p.m. at Herbert Shipman Park, 16-510 Old Volcano Rd., in Keaau. It is free and open to the public, but families must RSVP in advance to receive a backpack, and Neighborhood Place of Puna says each child is limited to one backpack. Organizers also plan family activities, food vendors, raffle prizes and resource booths at the park.

Help is being accepted before the event itself. A school-supply drop box is available through July 18 at South Hilo Police Station, 349 Kapiolani Street in Hilo, and Neighborhood Place of Puna also lists drop-off locations at the Neighborhood Place Resource Center in Hilo, the Neighborhood Place Resource Center in Keaau and other community sites. The police station serves the South Hilo District, and the Hawaii Police Department says Area I includes Hāmākua/North Hilo, South Hilo and Puna.

The timing matters for East Hawaii parents already trying to stretch household budgets. Neighborhood Place of Puna says rising living costs in Hawaii are making even basic school supplies difficult for many families to afford, and the group’s summer guidance points to other budget pressure points, including free breakfast and lunch for children ages 18 and younger through July 17 and Hawaii SUN Bucks, which provides eligible families $189 per child from May 29 through Aug. 2.

For police, the drive is part of a broader community-policing strategy. The Hawaii Police Department says South Hilo Community Policing officers focus on developing partnerships through community mobilization, crime prevention and problem solving. In this case, that means working alongside neighborhood groups, not just responding after the school year starts and families are already scrambling.

Neighborhood Place of Puna says it is still looking for volunteers, vendors and community partners to help reach the 700-backpack goal. The organization says the effort is designed to give local students the tools they need before classes resume, while making it easier for donors and families to take part on their own schedules. A separate Kona Community Policing Section back-to-school drive set for July 18 shows the push is spreading across the island, but the immediate focus in Hilo and Puna is clear: get supplies into children’s hands before the first day of school arrives.