Daisy loves her jewelry, but what she has is faded and old. Still, she likes to dress up when she goes out of the house. What would really raise her spirits and sure to have her smiling would be a new pair of earrings or a new necklace.
On her own, it won’t happen. She lives with her family, but they are not working, and her Social Security is just enough to pay for her expenses. So her wish for new jewelry is something she often thinks about these days.
Lola is another woman going through a grim holiday season. She is an independent single woman who has always been able to care for herself, but that changed a few years ago when she was diagnosed with a disabling illness. Now, she is just trying to get healthy, and it’s bringing her down.
Christmas is not always a bright time of year for her, and she could use some extra help to brighten this holiday season.
People like Daisy and Lola are just two people The Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund hopes to help this season.
And a new offer is making donations go farther.
This year, the Hale Uluwehi Kauai Fund announced it will provide a dollar-for-dollar match
of donations of $100 or greater. It will match the total up to $5,000 and, if there’s great success, will consider adjusting that figure higher.
That means your donation of $100 is doubled.
That’s great news for the hundreds of families that rely on the community-supported fund for gifts and groceries during the holidays.
The program has been led for the past two decades by Yoshiko “Dimples” Kano. The 92-year-old is so dedicated to this program that, despite health concerns, she keeps at it when she should really be resting.
Here’s how the program, around since the 1980s, works:
Families apply for assistance through social service agencies, which in turn connect with the Zonta Club of Kauai. It uses donations to buy gift certificates for those in need. The certificates can be used for gifts and groceries.
The Garden Island shares daily stories about those who could use assistance this holiday season. While the names are not real, the situations described are.
Each donated dollar is accounted for and carefully recorded. There are no administrators collecting salaries. There are no hidden costs.
If you hold a fundraiser for the Christmas Fund, let us know and we’ll spread the word. Anyone making a donation of $50 or more may have his or her picture presenting the check published in TGI.
Only monetary donations are accepted. Checks, payable to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation, can be mailed to P.O. Box 3032, Lihue, HI 96766. For more information, call 822-4517.
