Posted on: Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Economic 'realities' compel AUW to lower goal to $13 million

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

Aloha United Way has set a goal of $13 million for its 2003 fund-raising campaign, the organization announced yesterday, lower than its $13.2 million goal of last year.

"The campaign goal is something that we thought long and hard about this year, recognizing that the needs of the community continue to grow in the area of social services, but also being aware of the realities of the Hawai'i economy," said David Thomas, the 2003 AUW campaign chairman.

Nevertheless, organizers said they are optimistic they will meet, if not exceed, the 2003 goal.

David Nakada, president of Boys & Girls Club of Honolulu, has been involved with AUW for 25 years and said he has found that the people of Hawai'i always support each other.

"When we go out on these campaigns and we try to raise dollars from the community, I think it's something that this community truly believes in," Nakada said, "and I think we're going to have another successful campaign."

Thomas made the goal announcement from outside the safe deposit box vault of Bank of Hawai'i's branch Downtown.

"Consider this single $50 bill," said Thomas, holding the bill in front of him. "By itself, it doesn't look like it has a lot of strength, but when you take this $50 bill as an individual contribution and combine it with the contributions of all of your coworkers, family, friends and neighbors ..."

Thomas paused, and with the help of two security guards, proceeded to open the 6-foot-high, 10-ton vault door, revealing stacks and bags of bills worth millions of dollars: " ... you can see that it adds up quite a bit of bulk," he said.

Last year, 80,000 people donated $13.2 million to the 2002 campaign, he said. This year, the fund-raising campaign will run from Sept. 2 to Oct. 17. A kick-off event will be held Sept. 3 at Tamarind Park, Thomas said.

"The needs of our community have not decreased, so it's crucial that we meet our goal this year to ensure the safety net of essential programs and services remains available to those in need," AUW's Irving Lauber said.