HMSA grants aid health initiatives

» Alliance for Drama Education, $7,000, to support Nutrition and Fitness for Life, an educational performing-arts program aimed at Kalihi and Kaneohe students.

» American Lung Association of Hawaii, $12,000. The grant supported Special Populations for Open Airways for Schools, an asthma management program for students with asthma ages 8 to 11. It targets underserved populations, including Hawaiians, part-Hawaiians and students in rural areas.

» Drug Addiction Services of Hawaii Inc., $5,000. The money supported a community forum called Kukulu I Na Hulili, held last April at Waimanalo Homestead Association.

» Hawaii Community Foundation (Filipino Nurses Organization of Hawaii), $3,500. The grant supported a conference last June at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel titled "A Rainbow of Healthcare Strategies: Tools for Delivering Excellent Healthcare."

» Hawaii State Consortium for Integrative Health Care, $6,000, for publication of "Best Practices in Integrative/Complimentary Medicine in Treating Obesity."

» Hina Mauka, $5,000. The grant supported a conference in July for medical professionals, social workers, counselors and therapists at the Waikiki Beach Marriott on "Meeting the Challenge: Treating Addiction in the 21st Century."

» Office for Social Ministry, $50,000. The grant will support the Mobile Care Health Project to provide dental care to low-income uninsured and underinsured residents of the Big Island.

» St. Francis International Center for Healthcare Ethics, $20,000. The fund supported an international bioethics conference last month at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel called "Medical Malpractice: Understanding the Law, Managing the Risk."

» Sutter Health Pacific (Kahi Mohala), $50,000 over five years, to support the Challenge Course Community Access Program, a recreational therapy resource in the community. The program helps adolescents overcome personal challenges and dysfunctional behavior so they can become productive citizens.

» The Meditation Center of the Pacific Inc., $5,000, to support a learning program called "Effective Communication between Adults and Youth." The goal is to teach runaway youths and their parents skills to communicate and resolve problems so the teens will stay in school.

» Turning Point Cancer Center, $10,000, to support the Hawaii Cancer Lecture Series, a bimonthly education program. The purpose is to provide information to cancer patients, families and physicians to show how integrated medicine can help with healing.