Grants and awards
Advertiser Staff
Grants go to support literacy
The First Book O'ahu Advisory Board has made book grant awards totaling nearly $10,000 to literacy programs conducted by Good Beginnings Alliance, Hawaii Family Literacy Consortium, Kapi'olani Women, Infant and Children Program, Ohana Ola O Kahumana and Read To Me-Moloka'i.
The grants will provide about 4,000 new books for low-income children in the literacy programs to take home and own.
First Book is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving literacy by giving disadvantaged children the opportunity to read and own their first new books.
Foundation gives $525,000
The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has awarded Mental Health Kokua a $525,000 grant toward its construction fund-raising campaign.
The money will go toward the purchase of properties for residential services in Hilo and on Maui.
Other major financing sources for the property acquisitions and renovations include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State of Hawai'i and The County of Maui.
First Hawaiian aids memorial
First Hawaiian Foundation, the charitable arm of First Hawaiian Bank, has completed a three-year grant of $25,000 to the Disabled American Veterans' Ke'ehi Lagoon Memorial.
The Disabled American Veterans, whose members are American war veterans wounded in combat, developed an 11-acre parcel of land deeded to them by the state more than 40 years ago into a living memorial complete with meeting halls, pavilions, baseball diamond, basketball/volleyball court, and camping grounds.
"We sincerely appreciate the generosity of First Hawaiian Foundation for their support of our living memorial which honors the memory of our fallen comrades in arms and which simultaneously provides meeting and recreational facilities free of charge to all youth and other non-profit organizations," said Tommy Kakesako, chairman of the Ke'ehi Lagoon Memorial Management Committee.
KCC given 40 new computers
More than 40 computers and monitors were donated to Kapi'olani Community College Library by First Hawaiian Leasing, Inc. The computers will replace equipment more than six years old in the public areas of the library.
The donation benefits Kapi'olani Community College students who use the computers to search the library online catalog, get access to databases and full-text articles, e-mail their homework to professors and complete their term assignments.
Verizon gifts total $800,000
Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, donated more than $800,000 to 177 Hawai'i nonprofit groups last year to promote literacy, technology and workforce development.
In addition to the Verizon Foundation grants, 121 nonprofit agencies received more than $160,000 through contributions from Verizon Hawaii employees.
"We believe in investing in our communities through strategic partnerships with organizations that support literacy, technology education, and health and human services," Verizon Hawaii president Mel Horikami said.
Major grants included $20,000 to the Blood Bank of Hawaii, $15,000 to the Hawaii Primary Care Association, $10,000 to the Hawaii Library Foundation and $5,000 to the Kaua'i Children's Discovery Museum.
