LIHU‘E — Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste hasn’t had to turn away any potential donors interested in helping fund the county’s war on drugs. But he has had to tell a few folks to hold off on their fund-raising efforts until
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste hasn’t had to turn away any potential donors interested in helping fund the county’s war on drugs.
But he has had to tell a few folks to hold off on their fund-raising efforts until a nonprofit entity can be established to accept such donations, he said yesterday.
For now, board members with the nonprofit Kauai Rural Health Association are accepting donations, with board members working with members of the drug-war “continuum” of prevention, enforcement, integration and after-care professionals to determine where the funds will best be spent, said Baptiste and Roy Nishida, county anti-drug coordinator and vice president of the Kauai Rural Health Association.
Baptiste said representatives of corporations large and small are interested in contributing up to $500,000 to the war effort, and officials with nonprofit entities are also wishing to contribute amounts large and small.
Officials at the Lihue United Church of Christ plan to donate profits from their annual Labor Day breakfast, on Monday, Sept. 1, to the war on drugs, Nishida said.
Jerry Gibson, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa in Po‘ipu, yesterday dropped off a $5,000 check for the cause, as his way of saying “thank you” to Baptiste for his involvement in pushing for a drug-free Kaua‘i, Gibson said.
The check is proceeds from the sold-out Cecilio & Kapono concert at the Hyatt held during Koloa Plantation Days. Some 1,300 people attended the concert, and there were many individual and corporate sponsors for and volunteers at the event.
Kaua‘i Police Department, Hyatt’s Hawaiiana and protocol committee, Kukui‘Ula Development Corp., Uohara Agency, Joe’s on the Green, Keoki’s Paradise, King Auto Center, Lawai Beach Resort, Po‘ipu Beach Broiler, Marriott’s Vacation Club, Captain Andy’s Sailing, Regency Florist, Sheraton Kauai Resort, were among the corporate sponsors and volunteers.
Individual sponsors included Beryl Moir, Solomon Ono, Norman Tuck, Gregory Brooks and Diane Medeiros.
During the check presentation, Baptiste said his office has a limited supply of bumper stickers reading “End Kaua‘i’s Ice Age” and “End Hawai‘i’s Ice Age.”
“Ice” is street slang for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug believed to be at the root of much of the crime on the island.
Baptiste recommends people place the bumper stickers on their driver-side front bumpers, where thousands of other drivers could see them on a daily basis, versus placing them on rear bumpers, where only a dozen or so drivers may view them.
The “repetitive message” will be more effective, he said. His new Jeep Cherokee has bumper stickers on the front and rear bumpers.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in the King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School cafeteria, Gary Shimabukuro of Laulima Hawaii and representatives of the state drug-enforcement program will talk about drugs in the community.
Kaua‘i Police Department officers will show their display of drugs and paraphernalia.
This Saturday, Aug. 30, representatives of the Aloha Church and members of the Hanama‘ulu community will hold a prayer service at Hanama‘ulu Beach Park at 8:30 a.m., and will pass out trilingual flyers (English, Ilocano and Tagalog) announcing the Wednesday meeting.
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
