Salutes • Grants
Kona, East-West Center projects get NEH grants
Advertiser Staff
The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced 389 grants totaling $20.9 million. The money is being awarded to projects that involve preserving collections, film documentaries, radio programs, museum exhibitions, library programs, summer study opportunities and curriculum development.
Two Hawai'i programs have received money. The Kona Historical Society in Captain Cook, Kona, received money for the Kona Historical Ranch and Store Project. It will consist of exhibits, living history demonstrations and panels that show the international influences on a Kona mercantile store and ranch. Director of the project is Jill Olson.
An East-West Center higher education program titled "Empowering Relationships: Ways of Authority in Japanese Culture" also has received a grant for a five-week national institute for non-specialist college and university teachers who seek to improve their teaching of Japanese history, culture and society.
Nationally, $12,094,000 went to public programs, $7,466,000 to education programs, $734,000 for preservation and access and $648,000 to research programs.
"The humanities are the people, places and events in history that provide us with knowledge and wisdom," said William Ferris, NEH chairman. "We seek to engage millions of Americans in history and literature projects that express our humanity and give perspective on our lives."
• The Ladies Philoptochos Society of Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church has given 160 airline tickets to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children so that young Neighbor Island cancer patients can fly to O'ahu for chemotherapy treatments. Treatments are required for some patients as often as once a month. Neighbor Island airline tickets are provided to families of pediatric patients who are unable to pay airfares. The child and one parent each receive a round-trip ticket.
The society has had a money-raising program since 1988. "This year's tickets came just in time," said Kapi'olani's medical social worker, Kathy Hanai-Lee. "We were completely out."
• Malama Na Keiki Foundation has received a $50,000 grant from the newly created Ron & Sanne Higgins Family Foundation. The gift will provide operating money as Malama Na Keiki solicits planned gifts and endowments for Hawai'i's child abuse and neglect prevention programs.
"We are delighted to be the recipient of such a generous gift and feel fortunate to have the support of the Higgins family both financially and as volunteers, since Sanne Higgins devotes many hours to our work as board secretary," said Robin Johnson, foundation executive director. "While it is true that Malama Na Keiki Foundation needs contributions for operating support, we strive to avoid tapping into traditional sources of funding which provide operating support for Hawai'i's child abuse and neglect prevention programs so that we don't detract from organizations we support."
