STAR-BULLETIN / 2001 Babs Miyano-Young, left, gave her daughter Reiki Young an impromptu hula lesson at last August's Slack Key Guitar Festival. The Star-Bulletin's collaboration with Outrigger Hotels & Resorts helped keep the annual festival alive.

Star-Bulletin contributes
to community

Many people have benefited from the
paper's support for numerous causes

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

The annual Hawaiian slack-key guitar festival was in danger after the event lost its main sponsor of 18 years last summer.

Musical director Milton Lau sought the help of Don Kendall, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, to continue the traditional statewide event.

"He didn't hesitate," Lau said.

Soon after the meeting, the newspaper collaborated with Outrigger Hotels & Resorts to sponsor the 19th annual Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival on Aug. 19. A crowd of nearly 5,000 people gathered at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand after the newspaper ran promotional advertisements of the event.

"I can't say enough for the Star-Bulletin. They stepped forward to continue this festival and to perpetuate this form of music that is so unique to Hawaii," he said.

In addition to the slack-key guitar festival, the Star-Bulletin has helped dozens of isle organizations and projects after ending its 39-year joint operating agreement between the newspaper and the Honolulu Advertiser last March.

STAR-BULLETIN / 2002 A partnership between the Star-Bulletin and Starbucks Corp. raised about $30,000 for new playground equipment at Kalihi Kai Elementary School.

"I always felt that part of the newspaper's duty and obligation to the community is to get involved and be more than an outsider looking in. I think it's important for the newspaper to become part of the community," Kendall said.

With the festival, the newspaper helped continue a 160-year slack-key tradition in the islands, Lau said. The event attracts visitors from across the nation, he added.

This year, Kendall agreed to support the festival to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

But the newspaper's community participation extends well beyond the festival.

Kindergartners at Kalihi Kai Elementary School are enjoying a new playground structure after the Star-Bulletin collaborated last year with Starbucks Corp. in a two-month campaign to raise about $30,000 for new equipment.

"It was great to see the kids' faces the day we had the equipment blessed," Kendall said.

Initially, the school was placed on a waiting list for new equipment after old structures were removed due to safety concerns.

"The Star-Bulletin and Starbucks were very instrumental in providing the necessary funds for the kindergartners' playground equipment," said school Principal Stanley Kayatani.

More than 100 kindergartners attend Kalihi Kai, the largest elementary school in the Honolulu district. Now the school is expecting to receive two additional playgrounds for first- and second-graders by the end of the school year.

"They (Star-Bulletin and Starbucks) created a momentum to have additional playgrounds paid for by the state," said Kayatani. The playground is a "strong symbol of the private sector's involvement in education," he added.

The president of the Hawaii Foodbank also commended the Star-Bulletin for its contribution and volunteerism in the Foodbank drive held following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

After Sept. 11 the Hawaii Foodbank experienced a supply shortage of canned goods in mid-October. Foodbank officials contacted the newspaper, which ran a 10-week campaign of about $200,000 worth of advertisements in the Star-Bulletin, Midweek and military newspapers.

The Foodbank received enough food for its weekly clients.

STAR-BULLETIN / 2002 Star Bulletin President and Publisher Don Kendall, shown here with children at Kalihi Kai Elementary School, says it is important for a newspaper to become part of the community.

The immediate response after the Star-Bulletin involvement helped replenish the Foodbank's coffers, said Dick Grimm, Hawaii Foodbank president.

Not only did the newspaper help in printing advertisements, staff members also assisted in the drive, he noted.

"The advertising space, we can get them from anywhere. But you can't get the involvement," Grimm said.

Upcoming Star-Bulletin community participation includes sponsorship of the Fourth of July celebration held at Schofield Barracks and a dinner featuring award-winning chefs Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong to be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in August.

The event is to support 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi's "Friendship Games," a function at Camp Erdman for children and youth with disabilities.

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a partial list of the events the Star-Bulletin either sponsored or participated in:
>> Star-Bulletin/Starbucks Star Playground Project
>> Ocean Sports Productions Ko Olina Resort Ocean Expo and Boat Show
>> Slack Key Festival
>> Hawaiian Islander Arena Football League 2
>> Garlic Festival (benefit for Friends of Hawaii Charities)
>> Napa comes to Nuuanu (wine festival)
>> Retail Merchants Association (annual awards)
>> Hawaii Theater Hana Hou! Hawaii Music Series (season sponsor)
>> Hoop Jam Basketball Tournament
>> Leukemia and Lymphoma Society -- Light the Night Fund-Raiser
>> Ready2Read
>> Music Foundation of Hawaii
>> Hawaii Foodbank Drive (annual food drive)
>> Bishop Museum -- October 2001 Treat Street
>> Bishop Museum January 2002 Family Day
>> Bishop Museum 2002 Dinosaur Exhibit
>> Buy Hawaii campaign following Sept. 11
>> Red Cross campaign following Sept. 11
>> Manoa Valley Theatre (season sponsor)
>> American Cancer Society Relay for Life
>> Pearlridge Amazing Mazes
>> EK Fernandez State Fair
>> YMCA Family Fun Run
>> Dragon Boat Races
>> Honolulu Fire Department Fire Safety Booklet in the schools
>> Bayfest 2001
>> Hawaii Sports Network -- Student Sports Information director's monthly high school sports magazine
>>  28th Annual Honolulu Marathon
>> Farm Fair Cooking Contest