I've always believed in the notion that the best way to take care of yourself is to take care of others first. Generosity overcomes
strife in the newsroomThat's why the thing I like best about the way the Star-Bulletin staff has handled the turmoil surrounding efforts to shut us down is the way we've kept giving to others despite our own troubles.
We nearly made our Aloha United Way goal without any organized attempt to collect money. We contributed a very nice collection of goodies to the annual Toys for Tots campaign. After the courts gave us a stay of execution, we put together a last-minute Good Neighbor Fund campaign for needy families at Christmas that should come close to matching the more than $25,000 we collected last year.
And our reporters were instrumental in helping the Waimano Home replace its stolen Christmas gifts and the Manoa Pop Warner football team get to Las Vegas after money raised for the trip was embezzled.
Hustle by reporters Rod Ohira, Jaymes Song and Harold Morse facilitated the quick and generous community response that minimized the painful trauma that could have resulted from those crimes.
You've got to love working with people who remain so attentive to the needs of others when they could find themselves out of work virtually any day.
Our annual United Way campaign was cancelled after it was announced Sept. 16 that the Star-Bulletin would be shut down after 117 years of continuous publication as Hawaii's oldest daily newspaper.
As the issue became tied up in the courts and we lived on, several employees expressed regret that we had missed the United Way campaign.
With all the institutions that don't work in Hawaii, Aloha United Way is a great example of one that does work and is getting better. AUW bases its funding on vital community-wide goals and rigorously holds its agencies accountable for results. Its focus on goals and tight fiscal controls are the standard by which even non-AUW charities in Hawaii are measured.
We were too late for our customary weeks-long United Way campaign that involves much cajoling and arm-twisting and usually raises more than $15,000. So we simply distributed pledge cards with no hype or pressure for those interested. We raised $13,249 in just a few days. And one of our biggest donors wasn't counted in our total because she had sent her contribution directly to AUW when it appeared we would have no campaign of our own.
The company gave AUW an additional $15,000 to match donations by employees.
Similarly on the Good Neighbor Fund, we made no preparations to raise money this year because we didn't expect to be here for the holidays. When U.S. District Judge Alan Kay issued an injunction keeping us alive, assistant managing editor Frank Bridgewater moved quickly to bring the Good Neighbor Fund, a longstanding Star-Bulletin tradition, back to life. Kokua Line columnist June Watanabe jumped in to write the kickoff story -- a task usually assigned to one of our junior reporters.
If you're looking to make an end-of-year charitable contribution to boost your 1999 tax deduction, either the United Way or the Good Neighbor Fund would be a worthy recipient of your philanthropy.
We at the Star-Bulletin are blessed to be around for another holiday season. We are doubly blessed to have made it matter that we are here.
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
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