Posted on: Friday, December 21, 2001
Neighbor Island briefs
$1 million in aid distributed
WAILUKU, Maui — A county assistance program set up to help Maui workers affected by the events of Sept. 11 has distributed a little more than $1 million in vouchers, according to Mayor James "Kimo" Apana. The Hawai'i Emergency Laulima Partnership began Nov. 5 and has assisted 2,636 households, Apana said.
The average amount of assistance was $383 per household.
Thirty-eight percent of the total distributed went to help with housing expenses and 37 percent went toward food vouchers. Other vouchers were issued for utilities, auto loans and insurance, and medical costs.
Based on the rate at which assistance is being provided, the program is expected to exhaust all its money by Christmas, Apana said. The $1.5 million spent for the program came from money set aside for emergencies in the current fiscal year budget.
UHH rites tomorrow HILO, Hawai'i — Kamehameha Schools board chairman Robert Kihune will be the keynote speaker tomorrow at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo's fall commencement at the UHH Athletics Complex.
The ceremony for 174 students will begin at 9 a.m.
Kihune, a retired Navy admiral, moved to the Big Island after retiring in 1994 and has served in several roles, including director of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i in Kona.
The student speaker will be Julie-Beth Kanani Dircks, formerly of North Kohala, a psychology student who plans to seek a master's degree in counseling.
She is the mother of three and has a grandchild. She will address the diversity of the UHH student body.
