Bill collectors turn attention to hunger

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mike Kobayashi, Toni Pregill and Cindy Lau should be pretty good at getting people to donate to the needy this holiday season.

	Where to donate
	Offices where donations of canned goods and other nonperishable food items will be received include:
•	Doctors Business Bureau, Pacific Collections and Vericheck, 1616 Liliha St., Third Floor, Honolulu.
•	Impact Financial Services, 46-001 Kamehameha Highway, Suite 308, Kane'ohe.
•	Honolulu Collection Corporation, 1111 Bishop St., Suite 511, Honolulu.
•	Asset Recovery Group, 111 N. King St., Suite 403, Honolulu.
•	MEDCAH Inc., 320 Uluniu St., Suite 5, Kailua.
•	Kauai Credit Adjusters Ltd., 2984-D Ewalu St., Lihu'e, Kaua'i.
•	Maui Collection Services Inc., 1464 L. Main St., Wailuku, Maui.
•	Credit Associates of Maui Ltd., and Vericheck, 1817 Wells St., Wailuku, Maui.
•	Frank Huff Agency, Inc., 72 Kekuanaoa St., Hilo, Big Island.

Their company, the Hawaiian Collectors Association, is bucking its negative image by conducting a food drive through its members' offices through Dec. 15 to benefit the Hawai'i Food Bank.

The 20-member group will also make a financial contribution to the Lokahi Fund instead of awarding the college scholarships it usually provides, said Kobayashi, president of Kauai Credit Adjusters Ltd.

"We wanted to do something more immediate and more tangible to the majority of the community rather than a select group of young people about to enter college," Kobayashi said.

Lynn A.S. Araki, an attorney and president of the association, said foods collected from individual member offices will be donated to the local food bank.

"The public can rest assured that their contributions will have a direct impact on their community," Araki said. "The foods we donate may benefit our friends and neighbors."

Pregill, manager at Doctors Business Bureau, Pacific Collections and Vericheck on O'ahu, said her company can see the early signs of economic slowdown when people can't pay their bills.

It was partly that awareness that stimulated the food drive idea, she said.

Lau, manager at Impact Financial Services in Kane'ohe, said, "We know that times are really hard today, with people losing their jobs."

Kobayashi said bill collectors in Hawai'i have always been somewhat different than the stereotype some people associate with the business.

"Living here in Hawai'i, it's a different kind of collection. You can't twist a person's arm, and a lot of our employees are neighbors of ... some of the people we are trying to collect from.

"So we have to be a little more caring in our collections."

Kobayashi said it is a little early in the downturn to notice any significant increase in bills referred to member offices for collection.

"There is usually a lag time involved," he said. Activity may increase "somewhere down the road."

Contrary to common belief, hard times don't mean good business for bill collectors, Pregill and Kobayashi said.

Pregill said collectors' revenues are often linked to the amount they collect, so hard times for the general public are often hard times for collection agencies.

Reach Walter Wright at 525-8054 or wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com.