| Governor's Press Release |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2001 NEWS RELEASE 01-107 GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP Governor Ben Cayetano today announced that a community-based group has been formed to offer solutions to dealing with the social needs resulting from the September 11th tragedy. "What happened last month on the Mainland and this new war on terrorism are a strain to many families in Hawaii," Governor Cayetano said in a news conference in his office today. "I have asked these leaders in our charitable community to gather information about the actual hardships people may be experiencing. At a time like this, we need to send out a message of hope and ensure that our people in need get the help that is available." Two weeks ago, the Governor asked Susan Doyle, Aloha United Way Vice President for Community Building, and the Reverend Dan Chun, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu, to chair this task force. Since then, Doyle and Chun have been meeting with State Department of Human Services Director Susan Chandler. The result is "Hawaii Together," a larger task force of nonprofit sector, faith-based organizations, financial institutions, the military, businesses, the philanthropic sector, business, education, and the public sector. Hawaii Together's mission is to help Hawaii residents rebound from the economic fallout of the September 11th disaster. The group held its first meeting today. "This is a call to action to strengthen our community safety net," Doyle said. "The current situation is presenting new challenges, but there are tremendous assets and resources in the community. We may need to put them together in different ways to meet our current needs." Reverend Chun said: "In these uncertain times, we will work to strengthen people's faith in God, call on the power of prayer, and encourage the community to love and serve the people of Hawaii." More - # # # - |