LIHU‘E — Jeanette Riding is a veteran of the Visitor Industry Charity Walk. Employed by the Marriott and Aston hotels, she was awarded the Golden Slippa award for being the individual top fundraiser for the annual event held Saturday at
LIHU‘E — Jeanette Riding is a veteran of the Visitor Industry Charity Walk. Employed by the Marriott and Aston hotels, she was awarded the Golden Slippa award for being the individual top fundraiser for the annual event held Saturday at the Historic County Building.
LIHU‘E — Jeanette Riding is a veteran of the Visitor Industry Charity Walk.
Employed by the Marriott and Aston hotels, she was awarded the Golden Slippa award for being the individual top fundraiser for the annual event held Saturday at the Historic County Building.
“My daughters got excited about the incentive,” said Riding, who also took the top award at last year’s walk. “This year, I got more than $3,400. This is less than last year when we collected more than $4,000, but now people just no mo’ money.”
The Silva Slippa award winners — going to second and third place individual fundraisers — are also no strangers to fundraising after having won last year as well.
Max Klutke got the second place honor with more than $2,200 raised and David Mona got the third place slot with more than $2,100 raised. They each qualified for a $500 shopping spree at Big Save on June 12. The shopper getting the closest to $500 without going over will qualify for an additional premium.
Sandi Kato-Klutke, the secretary of the Hawai‘i Hotel and Lodging Kaua‘i Chapter, said this year’s walk had more than 1,000 walkers, some coming in to register just 30 minutes before the walk started at 7 a.m.
Steve Yannarell, chair of the walk, said last year the walk raised $165,000 which stayed on Kaua‘i to help 48 local island charities. The amount of money raised at this year’s walk was unavailable at press time.
“This morning, we were blessed with a $1,000 contribution from the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau,” Yannarell said. “Sue Kanoho really wanted to be here, but could not so she sent the contribution.”
Since the walk started, the HHLA Kaua‘i Chapter has raised more than $3 million which all went to help Kaua‘i nonprofits such as Women in Need, the Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army, the Kaua‘i Food Bank, Easter Seals, Child and Family Services, and more.
Kyson Gusukuma, arriving home from college Friday night, was announced as the recipient of the Grand Prize sponsored by the St. Regis at Princeville. That prize, according to emcee Ron Wiley, is valued at more than $3,000 and includes a spa massage as well as a two-night stay at the Prince Junior suite.
The St. Regis at Princeville, in the June 2010 issue of Travel & Leisure, was recognized on the “It List” of the magazine’s “45 Favorite New Hotels,” the redesigned resort being transformed into an elegant reflection of its island home, paying homage to the land and culture, states a release from Starwood Hotels.
Walkers, cooled by morning showers that many said were badly needed because of the drought conditions, were treated to ample hydration and energy pick-ups at aid stations manned by Easter Seals/ARC of Kaua‘i, the Kaua‘i Police Activities League and KPD Explorers, McDonald’s, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the Kaua‘i Special Olympics, and the Kapa‘a High School Interact Club whose members cheered on the walkers.
At the finish line, walkers were handed wristbands and tickets for breakfast featuring choices from Kaua‘i Coffee, the Starwood group under Chef Ben Takahashi of the Sheraton Kaua‘i, Chef Larry Eells of the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa, Chef Guy Higa and the Kaua‘i Marriott, Chef Mark Sassone of the Kaua‘i Beach Resort, Chef Edward Manzo of the Westin Princeville, and Chef Roland Macalma of the Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club.
The Kapa‘a High School football program under head coach Keli‘i Morgado made the distributions.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
