Baseball fans and players kept their caps on, but dug deep Saturday for the Hats Off program to benefit the American Red Cross, Kaua‘i Chapter.
Joy Kouchi, a former team mom for the Kaua‘i High School baseball team, was armed with a white Hats Off cap, an exchange for the normal black-and-red gear symbolizing the Red Raiders.
During her rounds at the double-header for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation’s Baseball season opener, Joy, whose husband, Ron, was doing announcer duties, said the collection amounted to $580 which will be turned over to Alfred Darling, director of the American Red Cross, Kaua‘i.
“This is great,” Joy said. “This represents not only the Kaua‘i High School team, but all of the KIF teams — Waimea, Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i.”
Earlier, Ron, a Kaua‘i County Council member, said he was planning on doing the Hats Off benefit as a community service project for the Red Raiders’ baseball team.
“Last year, the baseball team arranged for collection boxes for food that helped the Kaua‘i Food Bank,” Ron told Darling and American Red Cross Directors Peggy Cha, Tom Shigemoto and Mark Marshall during a council meeting where the Red Cross was presented a certificate of appreciation for the work it does on the island.
“This (Hats Off project) sounds like a good idea, and there should be a lot of hats at the ball park,” Ron said. “I think we can do it — even if I have to borrow a cap to collect.”
But Ron did not have to borrow a cap as Joy showed up with a white American Red Cross cap symbolizing the fund-raising effort, and in tandem with Ron on the microphone, the cap as well as a specially decorated collection box made its way throughout the field.
“Ron called Ron Wiley (of KQNG) this morning to let him know that we were going to do this,” Joy said. “The response has been great, and it is heart-warming to know that it’s not just Kaua‘i High School, but all the other schools who combine to help this cause.”
Throughout the island, American Red Cross volunteers had set up special collection stations for the Hats Off program, including sites at the Kukui Grove Shopping Center and Wal-Mart.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
