Salutes • Grants and Awards
Award recognizes contributions to Hawai'i children
Advertiser Staff
The Good Beginnings Alliance has given the 2001 Ho'olaulima No Na Keiki Award (Working Together for the Children) to Robert R. Midkiff in recognition of his steadfast leadership and noble contributions to Hawai'i's children.
Since 1997, Midkiff has served as the volunteer president of the board of directors of Good Beginnings. Leading with innovation and dedication, he has embraced the challenge of making Hawai'i residents aware of the need to break the cycle that leaves its youngest children neglected, in poor health, abused and ill prepared to begin school.
His efforts on behalf of Hawai'i's charities are numerous. He is chairman of the Hawai'i Theatre Center and has helped raise more than $30 million to restore this vital element of downtown Honolulu. He also served a six-year term as secretary and director of the Hawai'i Community Foundation, which he helped found in 1987.
The Good Beginnings Alliance is a nonprofit organization that promotes and coordinates policies and programs that focus on a child's first five years.
It is a partnership between Hawai'i families, communities, businesses and the public sector to identify needs and provide support for the healthy development of Hawai'i's youngest children.
• McDonald's Corp. has bestowed three honors on McDonald's of Hawai'i: the Partners in Paradise award to restaurant owner/operator Erlinda Rosario, and Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Torch Relay runner positions to restaurant owner/operator Victor Lim and crew member Paul Tengan.
Maui owner/operator Rosario won the award given to the operator with the highest sales increase from the previous year. He received a stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and a trip to the West Coast.
As the torch will not pass through Hawai'i, Lim and Tengan will fly to a West Coast city to participate in the relay. The relay begins in Atlanta, Ga. Dec. 4, 2001, and will travel more than 13,500 miles, passing through 46 states on its way to the opening ceremonies for the XIX Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 8, 2002, in Salt Lake City.
• AlohaCare has announced its new board leadership. The members are:
President, Kawaihine Kamakea-Ohelo, executive director of Waimanalo Health Center.
Vice President, Richard Bettini, executive director of Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
Secretary, Geoffrey Pang, owner of American Business Marketing.
Treasurer, J. Petter Swartz, executive director of Hamakua Health Center.
At Large, Stephanie Launiu, executive director of Bay, Pahoa and Ka'u clinics.
Members will serve through June 2002.
AlohaCare is Hawai'i's only nonprofit health plan that exclusively serves QUEST members.
In 1994, Hawai'i's health centers formed a partnership and AlohaCare to ensure the health needs of the state's underserved population were met.
Today, AlohaCare serves more than 28,000 medical and 37,000 dental QUEST members through a network of health-care providers throughout the state.
