Free face masks go out

LIHU‘E — Mel Rapozo said the face masks being distributed Saturday were made possible through the viewers of the popular social-media, virtual talk show with Charlie Iona.

“At first, we only needed one case of face masks,” Rapozo said. “But the viewers responded, and after the excitement died down, we had more than $6,000 for face masks. Dr. T (Dr. Tony Trpkovski of Doctors of Waikiki) threw in a case, and the result is 700 masks that we plan on getting to kupuna, veterans and keiki.”

Representatives of the state Department of Education on Kaua‘i, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Child &Family Service and Women In Need were on hand in the Vidinha Stadium parking lot to accept their share of masks and True Hero shields, a face shield designed by Trpkovski and his brother.

“This is because of South Korean government representative Minnie Ko,” Iona said. “Ko was with the City &County of Honolulu Office of Economic Development under the Mufi Hannemann administration. Her husband is from Korea, and following her duty at the OED, (she) moved back to South Korea, where she is the liaison on the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Iona said Ko appeared on one of the Kaua‘i virtual shows, and following that appearance became involved in getting face masks for Kaua‘i people.

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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.