Wild Ride Stock Exchange to benefit isle economic literacy
The Hawaii Council on Economic Education will host its annual dinner fundraiser on May 6 with the
Merrill Lynch Wild Ride Stock Exchange, an event that consolidates 60 days worth of stock trading into 80 minutes
Funds raised from the dinner will go toward supporting teacher training programs to help teachers increase the economic literacy of Hawaii students.
The event, to be held at the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Waikiki, will begin at 5 p.m. with a no-host cocktail reception and silent auction. The dinner and Wild Ride Stock Exchange will follow at 6 p.m.
Individual tickets are $150, with sponsor tables ranging from $1,500 to $5,000.
Tickets can be acquired by calling Kristine Castagnaro, HCEE executive director, at 536-6304, or by going online to www.hcee.org/dinner.
In the Wild Ride Stock Exchange, each organization that purchases a table receives a ticker symbol on the exchange. Once the bell rings, the trading floor opens and the games begin. Throughout the dinner, guests will buy and sell each other's stocks with the goal of increasing their portfolio value.
"It's not often that an organization can tie its mission so closely to their fundraising events," said George Kaluhiokalani, director of Merrill Lynch.
There also will be a silent auction filled with a variety of items including golf packages, restaurant certificates and an EVH Eddie Van Halen Frankenstein Replica Guitar limited edition from Easy Music Center. This guitar is one of only 300 replicas of the original.
Also, a rare jade bangle is being donated by Dr. Lawrence K.W. Tseu.
The event also will honor Island Insurance Cos. and Jeanne Skog of the Maui Economic Development Board with the Stephen L. Jackstadt Award for their outstanding support of economic education.
Island Insurance has sponsored nonprofit HCEE's Economics Challenge for the last four years while Skog was instrumental in overseeing the addition of economic education to MEDB's mission to ensure Hawaii residents are provided with abundant opportunities for rewarding employment.
The Economics Challenge is a high school competition designed to showcase high school economics students and courses in Hawaii.