Hawaiian Telcom Aids United Way

Jimmy Sone, Kaua’i’s lead network engineer for Hawaiian Telcom, was pleased to ask Kaua’i United Way executive director Scott Giarman to stop by his office to accept a donation check. Because the employees of Hawaiian Telcom had already completed an excellent annual Kaua’i United Way Campaign some time ago, “I was a little confused,” Giarman admitted.

It turned out that the check represented proceeds from the sale of old computers to Hawaiian Tel employees when the company’s systems were upgraded. “It was Laura Weaver, senior manager of our IT services group on Oahu, who came up with the idea that the sales on each island should stay on that island,” Sone said. “Liana Suniga, our local manager for field operations, represented Kaua’i. Effectively, this was a special fundraiser to move Kaua’i United Way a little closer to its goal.” The 2010 Kaua’i United Way Campaign is still going on and currently stands at 94 percent of goal. At this point in the 2009 Campaign they were at 90 percent. To make this fact more dramatic, the Campaign Committee raised the 2010 goal to $620,000. “Considering the economy – wow, what an accomplishment,” says campaign co-chairman Doug Sears.