Life's rid of abuse, but full of needs
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
"M.C." is a single mother of four children, ages 13-18. She attends college full-time and is a member of the Hawai'i National Guard.
M.C. is unemployed but has managed to support her family through student loans to pay household expenses and keep food on the table. Her tuition is covered by the GI Bill, she said.
"If not for my (18-year-old) son helping out, we wouldn't be making it," said M.C.
M.C. divorced her husband, who was abusive, in September. She and her children left the house for protection in a shelter with only the clothes they were wearing at the time.
"I would rather be going through all these struggles than be living in an abusive situation for me and my children," M.C. said.
She hopes to earn an associate degree in technology in July 2004.
The family has stayed together despite seemingly unending daily struggles. "Something is always falling apart," she said. "I scramble to fix one thing and something else breaks down."
For Christmas, M.C. wants something for her children.
"My kids are in desperate need of clothes that fit," she said. "But anything is fine. I just want them to receive a gift."
M.C. also has a daughter, 15, and 13-year-old boy and girl twins.
Our anonymous Santa has generously offered once again this year to match the first $25 of each donation to the Christmas Fund.
Checks made payable to "The Advertiser Christmas Fund" should be mailed to Helping Hands Hawai'i, P.O. Box 17780, Honolulu, HI 96817.
Monetary donations may be dropped off at any First Hawaiian Bank branch. Anyone wishing to donate goods instead of money can do so at the Community Clearinghouse at 2100 N. Nimitz Highway, near Pu'uhale Road. For details, call 440-3804.
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Advertiser Christmas Fund donations
- Scott, Dayna, Samantha $15
- George Amemiya $25
- Erma and Rodney Kinilau $25
- R. Scott and Valery O'Brien $25
- Collette Phillips $25
- Ruth Rand $25
- Hammond Hu $30
- In Memory of Dragoljub Jelich and Vera Romanoff $40
- Mary Marx $50
- David and Virginia Ballie $100
- Mehrtens Chillingworth $100
- Herbert Frantz $100
- Larry and Yasuko Nakamoto $100
- John and Jennifer Hoffee $250
- Marvin and Barbara Mathews $500
- Mike and Nancy Fisch $1,000
- In Memory of Bing Way Wong & Dorothy Fumiyo Wong $1,000
- Anonymous $25
- Anonymous $50
- Anonymous $100
- Anonymous $100
Total: $3,685
Total to date: $8,195
