3 isle churches seek gifts for needy kids
In an effort to brighten the holiday season for needy children around the world, the 20th annual Operation Christmas Child is filling shoe boxes with toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement.
Three churches in Hono•lulu will collect gift-packed shoe boxes during the operation’s national collection week, which gets underway Monday and wraps up Nov. 25, at these locations:
» Central Union Church, 1660 Beretania St.
Drop-off hours: noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Nov. 24; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 25
» Hawaii Kai Church, 265 Lunalilo Home Road
Drop-off: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 24, and 4:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 25
» Honolulu Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2313 Nuuanu Ave.
Drop-off: 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 24 and 8:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 25.
For more information about collection sites, call 800-567-8580. Call 714-432-•7030 or visit samaritanspurse.org on how to participate.
Free breakfast marks church’s 10 years
Innovative Concepts church is inviting the public to a complimentary breakfast, worship service and special program to celebrate the church’s 10th anniversary Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at Dave & Buster’s restaurant.
Music and refreshments will follow the program. RSVP by calling 944-4669 or send email to info@ichawaii.com.
"Our mission is to reach the lost by going to them," senior pastor Daven Hee said in a news release. "Most people are not comfortable stepping inside of a church, so rather than make them go somewhere where they’re not comfortable, we make it our job to go to them."
The church first took shape in 2003 at Mid-Pacific Institute’s Bakken Hall and later moved to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. In 2004 it moved to Dave & Buster’s, 1030 Auahi St.
Innovative Concepts meets every Sunday, 9:30 to 11 a.m., at Dave & Buster’s. It hosts a youth service, 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday nights at Lina•puni Elementary School (in Kuhio Park Terrace), for up to 80 children. The church also offers leadership training for nonprofits ranging from TJ Mahoney & Associates halfway house for adults and the Salvation Army ARC alcohol/drug rehabilitation program to Youth Outreach in Waikiki.
Central Union Church maps out green plan
Central Union Church has hired Energy Industries to complete an energy-conservation retrofit of its campus.
According to Carolynn Bell-Tuttle, chairwoman of the church’s Green Team, the church is partnering for the effort with Hawaii Community Reinvestment Corp., a nonprofit that initiated a program to lend money to nonprofits specifically for energy retrofitting.
In a news release, Bell-Tuttle said the retrofit could reduce the church’s annual electric bill by $62,000.
Among the changes slated to be up within a four- to six-month period: Lighting will be replaced with LED and energy-efficient fluorescent lights, and air-conditioning fans will be updated with new motors and smart controls that can speed up and slow down the fans based on temperature.
The church, founded in 1887, is at the corner of South Beretania and Punahou streets on an 8.4-acre campus.
