SHINING STARS
Big Isle medical student receives award
Danielle K. Potter, a Waimea, Hawaii, resident who is a medical student at Creighton University, was awarded the $5,000 Herbert Nickens Scholarship by the American Association of Medical Colleges. She is one of five third-year medical students in the nation to receive the award, which recognizes their efforts to meet the educational, societal and health care needs of minorities.
Dr. Dileep G. Bal, district health officer for Kauai, received the 2007 American Medical Association Foundation Award for Health Education. The award recognizes doctors who have led, developed or carried out professional and public health education activities.
The Queen's Native Hawaiian Health Program donated $25,000 for scholarships to Kapiolani Community College students enrolled in the health program. Diane Paloma, director of the Queen's program, said the donation is aimed at ultimately overcoming health disparities of native Hawaiians at the Queen's Medical Center.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden received a $125,000 grant from the McInerny Foundation for construction of its new botanical research center on Kauai. The gift brings the nonprofit, private organization to within $3 million of its fundraising goal of $14 million for the new facility.
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