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Saturday, April 9, 2011

April 10 - The Power of Human Kindness


As the sun sets, guests enter the With Aloha event to join the more than 2,300 people who showed up to give generously and to enjoy the food, drink and music.

Photos: David Croxford

Last night at the Pagoda Hotel & Restaurant, more than 2,300 people, dozens of Hawaii companies, some 24 restaurants, Hawaii's best entertainers and countless purple-clad volunteers showed what the power of human kindness can achieve, With Aloha.

The event raised $150,000 for Sendai's Tohoku University Hospital and the money will arrive there in a matter of days. The hospital is the largest in Japan's quake and tsunami-ravaged Tohoku Region and has been providing emergency care to thousands of victims. Despite suffering some quake damage, the hospital continues to provide care not only in Sendai, but in numerous evacuation centers in the hard-hit coastal areas throughout northeast Japan. The hospital staff, nurses and doctors are not just caregivers, they are victims too as their families and homes have also been impacted by the quake and tsunami and the resulting food shortages, power outages and more.

Although the 2,300 attendees last night were extremely generous, they were not the only ones who donated With Aloha as hundreds of people gave from around the world through the mail and Web site. In fact, donations continue to pour in and are still being accepted on the With Aloha site.

The fundraiser was organized by HONOLULU Magazine's owner, aio.

Posted on Saturday, April 9, 2011 in Permalink

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About This BLOG

Scott and Yasue Schumaker moved from Japan to Hawaii in 1995. They and their son Ian, 14, live in Kapolei. In mid-January, Yasue unexpectedly returned to her childhood home in Sendai, Japan to care for her ailing mother. She was in Sendai when the devastating 9.0 earthquake struck. In this blog, Scott will share how all 3 family members are coping with the separation amid the chaos and misery of post-quake life in northern Japan. All times in this blog are HST.

Editor's Note:
Scott Schumaker, president of our parent company, PacificBasin Communications, has a unique take on the events unfolding in Japan. His wife, Yasue, is a concierge at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa. Yasue was in Sendai when the earthquake and tsunami hit and was one of the first people interviewed by CNN. She remains there, looking after her ailing mother and coping with the devastation. In this online column, Schumaker chronicles the experience of one family, both separated and united by disaster.

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