Neighbor Island Children to Benefit from Donation to HPR

Neighbor island children needing care at Kapiolani Medical Center on Oahu will benefit from a $100,000 donation to Hawaii Public Radio, officials at the non-profit station said today.

That’s because Hawaiian Airlines will be providing a million frequent-flyer miles to the hospital’s Family Fund through its policy of matching each dollar in donations to HPR’s semi-annual pledge drive with 10 HawaiianMiles.

The monetary donation, and earmarking of the HawaiianMiles to the hospital, was the work of Dick Gushman, a Honolulu real estate executive and philanthropist and a long-time station listener, HPR said.

Kapiolani’s Family Fund assists patients and their families who have limited financial resources or whose medical insurance may not cover or only partially cover the care provided to them at the hospital.

“From air travel for medical reasons and lodging for neighbor island families on O‘ahu, to the purchase of special equipment not covered by insurance such as wheelchairs and crutches – the Family Fund is a special fund available only through careful consideration by social services at Kapi‘olani, to extend Kapi‘olani’s support and healing beyond the bedside for those families in greatest need,” HPR said in a press release.

The donation came on the eve of HPR’s Celebration 2013 fund drive which launches on Wednesday, with a goal of $992,000.

Hawaiian Airlines’ offer of 10 frequent-flyer miles for every dollar of HPR pledges of $120 or more will continue until Oct. 25.

“Dick’s magnificent gesture is a fusion of genius and generosity,” said HPR President and General Manager Michael Titterton, who called Gushman’s donation one of the largest in the station’s history.

“It’s a great illustration of how a single act of generosity can send out ripples far and wide – Kapi‘olani Medical Center and Hawaii Public Radio benefit here, but it can be replicated for any of the valuable non-profits that keep our community glued together,” he said.

“Hawaiian Airlines is delighted to support two worthy causes today – the dissemination of high-quality news and information via Hawaii Public Radio and the provision of high-quality medical care for keiki in need,” said Mark Dunkerley, the airline’s president and chief executive officer.  “We thank Dick Gushman for a great idea.”

Others individual HPR donors wishing to add their HawaiianMiles premiums to Gushman’s initiative may do so until Oct. 25 under a program dubbed the “Radio Flyers.”

Donations to HPR are accepted online here or by calling HPR’s Membership Department at (808) 955-8821 during business hours.