Posted on: Friday, December 27, 2002

Big debt of gratitude to Weinberg Foundation

"All I can say is," said Kelvin Taketa, president and chief executive of the Hawai'i Community Foundation, "thank God for the Weinberg Foundation."

It's a sentiment we wholeheartedly endorse. The steady drain of a struggling economy has put Hawai'i's charities in increasingly desperate straits: People aren't able to contribute more as the numbers of those in need mount.

In the past month, the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has come through with an emergency donation of $200,000 to the Hawai'i Foodbank, plus matching donations of as much as $200,000 to the Salvation Army for its Christmas red kettle drive, as much as $240,000 in matching donations to Aloha United way for its struggling annual fund-raising drive, and $100,000 to The Advertiser's Christmas Fund and KITV's "Adopt a Family" program, which both go to Helping Hands Hawai'i.

While the rest of us can only wonder at the magnitude, it's a good example to follow. While most of us are now catching our breath from the spate of materialism that obtrudes into the holidays each year, it's a good time to give some thought to those of us who are less fortunate.

The Advertiser is pleased once again to help collect donations for The Advertiser Christmas Fund. It's not too late to send monetary contributions to Helping Hands Hawai'i, P.O. Box 19155, Honolulu, HI 96817. As in past years, donations to the Christmas fund can also be dropped off at First Hawaiian Bank branches statewide.

Anyone wishing to donate goods instead of money can do so at the Helping Hands Hawai'i Community Clearinghouse. Call 536-7234 for information.

In this Land of Aloha, there were many families whose only Christmas present this year was a dream of a better life.

Please help them with that dream.