THE GOOD NEIGHBOR FUND
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Genevieve DeVincent and her disabled husband are raising their five grandsons because their parents have drug problems. DeVincent and two of her grandsons, Manna and Zen, pose on the playground equipment in Wahiawa District Park. The family barely makes ends meet, and by the time bills are paid, there is hardly anything left for food. CLICK FOR LARGE
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Grandsons' care a struggle
A Wahiawa woman picks up the slack for 5 boys' absent parents
WITH school letting out for three weeks of Christmas vacation on Wednesday, Genevieve DeVincent says she worries about how she will be able to feed her five grandsons.
She depends on their schools to feed them breakfast and lunch because she doesn't make enough money to supply all three meals every day.
"At the end of the month, I don't know how I'm going to feed my boys. And these boys eat a lot," said the Wahiawa woman, who is the primary breadwinner of nine people in her household.
DeVincent gets a little more than $1,000 from the state a month to raise the five boys, of whom she recently gained legal guardianship, but no food stamps because "we have too much unearned income" from her husband's disability/retirement pension.
The boys -- ages, 4, 8, 13, 14, and 17 -- all have some kind of learning disability, but they are "doing really, really good," she said. They have gained a sense of security since DeVincent and her husband took the boys into their home two years ago.
DeVincent said her daughter and son-in-law were homeless drug addicts then. Now the boys' parents are living with the DeVincents and looking for steady jobs.
Families like DeVincent's who are hard-pressed to make ends meet make up the majority of those the Star-Bulletin's annual Good Neighbor Fund tries to help in conjunction with Helping Hands Hawaii. Through the agency's Community Clearinghouse and Adopt-A-Family programs, the public may donate material goods or cash.
RECENT DONORS
Senjin & Mary Ueunten...$15
Carolyn Whitney...$100
Herbert Frantz ...$100
Raymond & Elaine Sakai ...$100
George & Elmira Leong ...$25
The Andrew Chings ...$75
Wallace Pratt ...$15
Harold Mateja ...$50
Vaughn Emoto ...$70
Sarah Elizabeth Fincke ...$500
Ronica Chang ...$50
Randall Scharnhorst ...$500
Enid Pittman ...$25
Emi Tamura ...$50
Randi & Robert Creamer ...$100
Pauline & Myra Ishii ...$150
Lydia Au (In loving memory of my daughter
Lorene K. S. Au)...$100
Jack & Kikumi ...$50
Masako Nishimura ...$25
Grace & Stan Wong ...$100
Roy Shigemura ...$20
April & Robert Leong ...$500
Anonymous ...$925
Todays total ...$3,645
Previous donations published ...$1,245
Grand Total ...$4890
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Monetary gifts may be sent to:
Honolulu Star-Bulletin's
Good Neighbor Fund
c/o Helping Hands Hawaii
P.O. Box 17780
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0780
Clothing, household items and gifts can be donated at the Community Clearinghouse, 2100 Nimitz Highway.
You may also participate in the Adopt-A-Family program, in which businesses, employee groups, social clubs, families or individuals can help a specific family.
Call 440-3804 for information about the program or to arrange for pickup of large items.