LIHU‘E – Kelly Hoen was thrilled beyond words when she discovered that the 27th Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk had surpassed its goal of $150,000, Saturday on the grounds of the historic county building. “We had anticipated somewhere in the
LIHU‘E – Kelly Hoen was thrilled beyond words when she discovered that the 27th Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk had surpassed its goal of $150,000, Saturday on the grounds of the historic county building.
“We had anticipated somewhere in the neighborhood of $138,000 last night, but after the turnout this morning, we’re at $156,000, and growing,” a delighted Hoen exclaimed amidst a sea of walkers that crossed the finish line to the waiting army of Kaua‘i High School girls JV basketball players who handed each walker a breakfast ticket.
Breakfasts were served by hosts from the Aston at Po‘ipu Kai who provided pre-Walk malasada and refreshments, the Hyatt Regency Kaua‘i, the Radisson Kaua‘i Resort, the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort, the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club,
Simon Jongert, the chairman for the 2005 Visitor Industry Walk had long since lost count of the walkers that topped the 2,000-mark, although somewhere in the sea, an organizer mentioned the magical number of 2,006.
Jongert explained that the total is based on several pre-Walk events including the popular “Bid for Bachelors” program, a bowling tournament, and new for this year, a “Horseback Ride for Charity” event that was chaired by Joyce Miranda of CJM Country Stables and the Kaua‘i All Girls Rodeo Association.
The Bid for Bachelors program, chaired by Deborah Baker and Sandi Kato-Klutke, added $8,000 to the coffers as did the bowling tournament chaired by Lynne Nagaoka and Wayne Yoshihara. The first Horseback Ride for Charity added $2,000.
Amidst the sea of 2,000-plus walkers, two stood out – Sgt. Pat Quel, and Milton Oshiro, both of the Army National Guard, who donned full back pack and jogged the three-plus mile course.
Representing soldiers that are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Quel said, “it’s to show that we can take the weight.” The theme for this year’s walk was “Mahalo to our troops.”
But, for the walk, Quel said the packs were symbolic more than to prove a point. Under normal training, Quel noted that people don’t see the soldiers work out with the full back packs because they start at about 2 a.m. and run a course from the Kekaha Firing Range to the Russian Fort.
Keeping with the theme, Sheraton Kaua‘i, issued patriotic hats and flags to its team of walkers who donned personalized tee shirts bearing the names of their employees who are currently in Iraq. Those employees are Nelson Acosta, Sam Damasco, Brandon Frasco, Rufino Pascual, Teofilo Serrano, and Vic Soria. Shelly Gerrardo, executive assistant to Angela Vento, general manager, said their walk chairperson, “Cynthia Nagao has done an outstanding job. We have raised more than $15,000 towards this year’s Walk, and are still collecting donations.”
Top fund raisers were honored by the presentation of “Slippah” awards, Kato-Klutke making a point of presenting special “Surfah Slippah” to host Ron Wiley, whom Kato-Klutke said always wears shoes to these events.
Peter Sit of Pono Kai who collected $1,000 was the Rubbah Slippah Award winner with David Mona of the Hyatt Regency taking the Silver Slippah award for his $2,491-effort.
The Kaua‘i Marriott’s Jeanette Ridings, earned the Golden Slippah this year for her collection efforts that yielded $3,155. Her prize included an inter-island roundtrip airfare for two on Aloha Airlines, a two-day mid-size car rental from Thrifty Rent a Car, and a two-night stay at the Outrigger Reef on O‘ahu.
Timothy Tim of the Kaua‘i Marriott was the winner of the Grand Prize roundtrip airfare for two to the mainland on Hawaiian Airlines, and a five-night stay at the La Jolla Marriott.
The full staff of Oceanic Time Warner turned out in uniform blue fatigues to capture this year’s winning Aid Station, the crew effectively defending its title from last year’s event.
Jongert’s committee for this year’s Walk included Chris Chang and Edie Bandmann, Entertainment; Seth Barker and Christopher Tang, Logistics; Nick Arruda and Kaupena Kinimaka, Route and Security; Kinimaka, Banners; Chuck Brady, Tee-shirts; Elli Gorman, Prizes; Lynne Nagaoka, Recruitment; Kelly Hoen, Publicity; Wayne Yoshihara, Finance; Erika Eklof, Aid Stations; Jolene Ogle and Deborah Baker, Charitable Organizations.
The Kaua‘i effort is part of the statewide Hawai‘i Hotel & Lodging Association (HHLA) event that raised a total of $963,000 with more than 10,205 walkers participating on O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i, and the Big Island.
The previous record was $960,400 established with last year’s Walk.
“We would like to thank all of those who made this event an enormous success by donating their time and money to this great endeavor.
Thousands will benefit from the generosity of this day,” said Alan Cambra, general manager of the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel, and general chairperson for this year’s Charity Walk.
