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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, December 6, 2008

ADVERTISER CHRISTMAS FUND
Household items would help family settle in

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Help our neighbors in need

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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HOW TO HELP

If you want to help, send checks payable to "The Advertiser Christmas Fund," to Helping Hands Hawai'i, 2100 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, HI 96819. Monetary donations may also be dropped off at any First Hawaiian Bank branch or The Advertiser's cashier's desk.

To donate online, go to www.honoluluadvertiser.com/xmasfund.

Material goods may be dropped off at the Community Clearinghouse at 2100 N. Nimitz Highway, near Pu'uhale Road, during these hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, Dec. 6, 13 and 20 only: 8 a.m. to noon.

To schedule a donation pick-up for large items, or to make a monetary donation by phone, call 440-3800.

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After living with relatives for months on end, Mele Savea's family is excited to be in their new home.

Their new place in Wai'anae needs curtains — any kind and any color — and her bare living room could use a recliner.

These are nice-to-have items as only her husband, Lay, is working. Money only goes so far for the Saveas and their two children, ages 5 and 1. The family moved into their own home in June, Mele Savea said.

It takes the bulk of the family's income to pay rent. They're still waiting for the government-backed Section 8 housing allowance, she said.

"My kids are grateful to have a house," said Savea, 31. "We waited so long to have a house. My husband works long hours. I do the housework, the kids, everything and the medical appointments."

Not long ago, doctors discovered that her daughter has a heart murmur. She had a seizure, and when she was rushed to the emergency room, that's when her condition was discovered. Now she needs regular testing and repeated doctor appointments.

Her son has asthma, but that's controllable, Savea said.

"My daughter goes to the hospital all the time," she said. "It's tiring. So when she sleeps, I sleep."

If someone adopts the family, they're hoping for a Christmas tree, towels, blankets, toiletries and, of course, curtains.

"For right now, my husband and I say that as long as we have a tree and a present each for the kids, we'll be happy," Savea said. "We'd be grateful for anything. As long as the kids see something, we'll be OK.

"It would be wonderful to have the children smile and have their first Christmas under their own roof."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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