Posted on: Monday, April 7, 2008
Grants
David McNeil and David Wilson, founding partners of McNeil Wilson Communications, were recently honored for their gift of $35,000 to the University of Hawai'i Foundation. The donation will be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund on behalf of the School of Communications benefiting students majoring in communications with an emphasis on public relations.
The Hawai'i Education Association has been given a grant of $2,500 by The First Hawaiian Foundation, the charitable arm of First Hawaiian Bank. The funds will be used to support the Hawai'i Education Association's annual Creative Writing Festival. The statewide literary contest attracts hundreds of entries from public school students at all grade levels.
Resource materials for Hawai'i fathers have just gotten more plentiful. The Hawai'i Coalition for Dads has received Daddy Pack materials and supplies for a fully stocked Fatherhood Resource Center as a result of grants worth $5,500 from the National Fatherhood Initiative. Each Daddy Pack contains print and electronic information on becoming a new father and on keeping a child safe, from newborn days through the toddler age.
In recognition of Kitty Lagareta's contributions to the community through her work with the Ronald McDonald House, the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation has awarded a special grant of $10,000 to be used in combination with a $40,000 gift from Lagareta to establish an endowment to benefit students at Windward Community College. The fund will provide financial assistance for tuition, fees, books and other educational expenses for qualified students enrolled in any course of study at the college.
Lagareta is CEO of Communications Pacific.
The Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center has received a $2,430,000 leadership gift from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc. The funds will support construction of the three-story Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Medical Building.
The Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center is the only safety-net provider of vital health services to the uninsured and needy in Leeward and Central O'ahu.
Pearlridge Center recently presented the nonprofit Hawaiian Railway Society with $50,400 in thanks for its service to the riders of the Pearlridge Express over the holiday season.
Over the past six years, Pearlridge has presented the society with a total of $270,295.20.
The new funds will allow the organization to repair and maintain Locomotive No. 302, one of two locomotives that pull the train for the Hawai'i Railway Society's popular rides. The society also plans to purchase a welder for maintenance and repair of its passenger cars.
Any remaining money will be added to the fund to restore Locomotive WACO No. 6, the only locomotive ever built in Hawai'i. The society believes that operating the steam locomotive would bring even greater authenticity to train rides at its 'Ewa train yard.
