Queen's lifts tsunami aid past $2M
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Queen's Medical Center yesterday donated $20,500 to the American Red Cross for its tsunami relief fund, bringing to more than $2 million the amount collected in Hawai'i in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in December.
Among other large Hawai'i donors: Castle Medical Center — $40,000 Mortenson Family Foundation — $80,000 Bank of Hawaii — $41,000 First Hawaiian Bank — $73,000 Schuler Family Foundation — $35,000 Na Lei Aloha Foundation — $30,000 Teo Chew Society — $25,000 United Korean Association — $31,000 Source: Red Cross
Beginning in February, the hospital's staff began a series of fundraising events that culminated in yesterday's check presentation. A committee headed by Bryan Croft, vice president of patient care at Queen's, organized bake sales, barbecue lunches, rummage sales, a craft fair and a tsunami relief concert. Employees were also able to donate unused paid time off.
Tsunami relief
"As a healthcare community partner, we felt like we should be able to step up and do something to support the nationwide effort to provide support," Croft said.
The Red Cross estimates that 155,000 people were killed, 527,000 injured and more than 1 million left homeless from the tsunami and its aftereffects.
Disasters like these hit close to home, said Croft. "We understood that there is potential for something like this to happen here as well."
The Red Cross has received an outpouring of donations large and small from all over Hawai'i, with everyone from schoolchildren to businesses and nonprofit groups contributing.
"I am so pleased and humbled by Hawai'i's generosity and compassion to the people and victims of the Southeast Asia tsunami," said Coralie Chun Mata-yoshi, chief executive officer of the Red Cross Hawai'i Chapter.
The single largest donation came from the Wave of Aloha fundraiser organized by Chai Chaowasaree, owner and chef of Chai's Island Bistro. The January event, which featured nearly 100 restaurants, raised $200,000.
A team of East-West Center Asia Pacific Leadership program participants and University of Hawai'i students raised $10,300 to help rebuild housing in tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka.
Mid-Pacific Institute President Joe Rice said a group of students decided they wanted to do something after talking about the disaster in social-studies class. "They thought of it entirely on their own," Rice said.
He estimated that more than $13,000 was raised for the Red Cross, surpassing their initial goal.
