Just when it seemed things couldn't get worse for the Marthin family, their van was repossessed.

Now they catch the bus to and from work, to school, the laundromat and the grocery store. The bank came and took the van last week after the family had too many late payments, said Robinhood Marthin.

Marthin and his wife, Mariko, have been married for 12 years.

They've had their share of problems. Marthin needed open heart surgery a year after they were married. And today he suffers from diabetes.

Every time Marthin, 43, applies for a job, his health condition hurts him all over again. Once a prospective employer sees his health history, he's not considered eligible, he said. So they get by on the welfare they receive from the government for their four children, ages 14, 11, 10 and 9, and what Mariko earns as a cook at Taco Bell.

It wasn't the life Marthin had planned when he moved to Hawai'i in 1984 from Chuuk, Micronesia. He attended two years of college at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. But a lack of money kept him from continuing his education.

"I try to look around for a job myself," Marthin said. "But it is very difficult to find one."

The 46-year-old Mariko's English is not that good, her husband said. But she goes to work every day. Their three daughters and one son are well cared for with the help of Mariko's 67-year-old mother, who lives with them in their Kalihi Valley home.

One way that life would be made easier is if they could get a washing machine for their home, so the family wouldn't have to cart the laundry back and forth to a laundromat, Marthin said. Right now, Mariko hangs the bath towels inside their home because she is "shame to have the people look at the sight of my shredded towels," she told her case worker at Palama Settlement.

New or slightly used clothes for the kids would be helpful too, her husband said. And now without a vehicle, even a used one, the family is struggling to get around, Marthin said.

"It is OK," Marthin said. "It is what it is. But it's hardest on the kids."

CHRISTMAS FUND RECENT DONATIONS

Joern & Chandre Hinrichs — $300

William & Diane Hahn — 250

Arthur & Ruth Ushijima — 200

Angeline & Thomas Tavares — 200

The G.A. Family — 100

Nathan Chong — 100

Alfred Furtado Jr. & Leilehua Furtado — 100

Melvin T. & Darlene K. Kutara — 100

Jean L. Lum — 100

Rosemary & Lawrence Mild — 100

Jacqueline Y. Morishige — 100

Craig T. Nakamura — 100

Susan A. Sakai — 100

Darryl, Paula, & Sam Yonezawa In Loving Memory of Violet Kim — 100

Darryl, Paula, & Sam Yonezawa In Loving Memory of Akira Amakawa — 100

Eugene Ogan — 55

Laura Suehisa — 50

Helene Allen — 25

Nelson Y. & Kendra L. Mizusawa — 25

John H. & Rose Takayesu — 25

Beatrice Goodenow — 20

Kristen Scharfenstein — 15

E.H. Kudo — 10

Anonymous — 100

Anonymous — 25

Anonymous — 5

Total: — $2,405