Teenage golfing sensation Michelle Wie plans to donate thousands of dollars worth of equipment and supplies to refurbish a computer room at a Wai'anae elementary school, the latest response in a growing effort stretching beyond Hawai'i to help the homeless along the Wai'anae Coast.

School officials yesterday confirmed that Wie intends to purchase about 30 top-of-the-line computers for Kamaile Elementary School, which is believed to have the highest concentration of homeless students along the coast, plus pay for computer programs, new furniture, a television, other equipment and air conditioning for the room.

For three hours after school, the room would be reserved exclusively for Kamaile's homeless students.

School principal Glen Kila estimated the planned donations and refurbishing of the computer room would top $60,000, and possibly $100,000.

Wie's desire to help came in response to a recent series by The Advertiser on the homeless crisis along the coast. One part of the series delved into the harmful effects homelessness has on the scores of children living on the beaches and elsewhere, sometimes showing up at school in dirty clothes, with inadequate supplies or even having gone without a hot meal in a while.

Kamaile was prominently featured in the series, and since then has been showered with several thousand dollars worth of donations — money and supplies — from around the state, the nation and a few foreign countries.

"It's been like a tsunami," Kila said.

Most of the donors have been everyday folks who said they were moved by the series to help. Some donated as little as $10. One donor gave $500.

"We were just floored by the level of support they are willing to give us," Kila said.

Some people have donated cases of canned tuna, touched by an anecdote in the series of a 6-year-old Kamaile student who, as a reward for good behavior, selected a can of tuna over small toys from the school store because of his family's lack of food.

Some donors have simply offered their time. Three hair stylists, for instance, have volunteered to come to Kamaile once a month to cut students' hair.

But the involvement of Wie, an internationally known celebrity from Hawai'i, is taking the response to a new level.

"What's touching is that she's taking the lead," getting the message out that homeless children along the coast need help, Kila said. Some say her involvement might encourage other wealthy donors to come forward.

Wie was not available for comment yesterday. She is scheduled to attend a news conference today with Gov. Linda Lingle, partly to talk about her initiatives to help homeless children.

'EVERYONE'S CHILDREN'

Kila said donations of money and supplies continue to pour in to the school in response to The Advertiser's five-part series, which was published last month. He said the school is getting about 15 donations a day. Offers of help have come from as far away as Japan, Canada and the U.S. East Coast.

Many people are saying they intend to keep donating, not wanting to do something just once, according to Kila. Several families from Kailua have come on a weekly basis since the series was published to donate goods and are asking what specifically is needed.

"Our Kamaile children are now everyone's children," he said. "They've adopted us."

And it's not just Kamaile.

At Wai'anae Community Outreach, a nonprofit group that helps the homeless and also was prominently mentioned in the series, so many donations of supplies have been made that the organization is starting to worry about where it will store the merchandise as more comes in. It also is having difficulty scheduling pickups of furniture and other donations with its single van.

"It's getting to the point where our van can't even go out any more because it's so crazy," said Laura Pitolo, program director for the group, which encourages people to drop off donations at its Wai'anae office or at the state-owned homeless shelter it recently started running at Kalaeloa.

The group particularly needs donations of toiletries, bedding, towels, tarps, blankets and clothing, especially for adults, or monetary donations, officials said.

CHANGING ATTITUDES

The Advertiser series helped put a face on a long-standing problem along the coast and has changed the way people perceive the homeless, according to homeless residents and those who work with them.

One beach resident told her mother-in-law, Cheryl Lewis, that the tone of passenger conversations on city buses that regularly pass the homeless encampments has changed. The homeless resident rides the bus often to commute from Ma'ili Beach Park, where she lives, and Kapolei, where she works.

Instead of largely negative comments about the homeless, the tone among passengers has become more sympathetic and understanding because they realize many homeless hold jobs and simply can't afford escalating rents, Lewis said.

"The impact (of the coverage) has really changed the attitudes toward these children," Kila said.

In the 30-plus years he has been an educator along the coast, Kila said, getting help for the homeless has been a constant struggle until now. "Nobody knew them before. They were unknown people. They were just there."

Even people from afar were touched.

Anna Frances Havens, children's director at Vaiden Baptist Church in Mississippi, said in an e-mail that her organization recently had a lu'au for the church's children, and she shared The Advertiser's story of Wai'anae kids living on the beach. Some of the boys at the lu'au were so moved they passed around their "beach hats" to collect donations to send to Wai'anae Community Outreach, she said.

Wie likewise was moved to help after reading about the homeless children, her father, BJ Wie, told the newspaper in an e-mail recently.

The new computers are intended to replace the old "dinosaur" computers that are in the room now, Kila said.

Kila said the newly refurbished computer room will be reserved from 2 to 5 p.m. for Kamaile's homeless students. To help draw them to the center, the first hour will be devoted to fun things like video games, he said, so the kids can enjoy themselves like other students with homes. The last two hours will be spent on school work.

During the school day, the room will be available for use by the school's 650 students, about 90 percent of whom are eligible for free or discounted lunches because of their families' income levels. It is not known precisely how many of the students are homeless.

Because the computer room is no larger than a standard classroom, its use has to be limited to Kamaile students, Kila said.

The parents of homeless students already have volunteered to help repaint the room, he said.

The school is hoping the refurbished center will be available beginning Dec. 1.

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.