Awards
Advertiser Staff
The Papa'ikou Club elected officers for 2002-03 at its annual meeting and party held recently at the Los Banos Disabled American Veterans pavilion. They are: Ron Nakatsu, president; George Tsugawa, vice president; Jean Yonemura Sakai, secretary; and Tatsuo Inouye, treasurer. Board of directors members are Jaime Rebuldela, Betty Ah Chin Masaki, Shirley Ishimoto Gushiken, Henry Izuka, Hideo Tomita, Mitsuo Sumida and Sadao Yamashita. The club was formed in 1957 with a vision for the fellowship of friends and neighbors from the former Onomea Sugar Plantation.
The members help other members in distress and when there are deaths, with special assistance as required.
The Hawai'i State Chapter of the American Red Cross recently honored more than 80 O'ahu volunteers. Special awards were given to:
• Kenneth Kotada, Volunteer of the Year. He is the Daytime Disaster Action Team coordinator who has mentored more than 40 new disaster volunteers, some of whom were sent to New York to help with disaster relief. He is involved with all aspects of a disaster case, from first response to follow-up casework.
• Kelsey Han, O'ahu Youth Volunteer of the Year. Han, 13, is a Punahou student who volunteers as the youth orientation assistant. In six months, she has attended six volunteer orientations and spoken to more than 150 people, informing adults about youth volunteerism and asking them to recruit their children and friends.
• Kenneth Lee, the Clara Barton Volunteer Leadership Honor Award. He is the disaster mental health lead volunteer who leads quarterly meetings with the Department of Health to discuss mental health issue updates and analyze the level of readiness for disaster mental health response. He is also a disaster mental health instructor who certified more than 60 professionals last year. He helped to establish operations at Ground Zero in New York City after Sept. 11.
• Recipients of Exceptional Volunteer Service Awards were: Kimberly Bailes, a CPR/first aid and water safety instructor who has given more than 1,500 hours of volunteer time. She also helps plan and support the development of new instructor trainees; Kathy Dela Pena, former shelter manager, now the O'ahu disaster chair, under whose leadership the Red Cross has been able to provide more frequent training sessions for disaster volunteers; Ivy Dionosio, certified nurse aide who assists with the certified nurse aide review course and helps to proctor the competency exam; Bob Graham, retired fire captain now responsible for the Red Cross emergency response vehicle, testing and training new drivers, and establishing and monitoring disaster meal counts; and Caroline "Cassie" Shinabarger, a nighttime disaster action team captain whose top priority is to help people in need. She has helped improve how the disaster action teams respond and helps with the Community Outreach Program.
