DONATIONS FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES POURING IN TO BOOST COUNTY'S WAR ON DRUGS

LIHU'E -- Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste hasn't had to turn away any potential donors
interested in helping fund the county's war on drugs.

But he has had to tell a few folks to hold off on their fund-raising efforts
until a nonprofit entity can be established to accept such donations, he said
yesterday.

For now, board members with the nonprofit Kauai Rural Health Association are
accepting donations, with board members working with members of the drug-war
"continuum" of prevention, enforcement, integration and after-care
professionals to determine where the funds will best be spent, said Baptiste
and Roy Nishida, county anti-drug coordinator and vice president of the Kauai
Rural Health Association.

Baptiste said representatives of corporations large and small are interested in
contributing up to $500,000 to the war effort, and officials with nonprofit
entities are also wishing to contribute amounts large and small.

Officials at the Lihue United Church of Christ plan to donate profits from
their annual Labor Day breakfast, on Monday, Sept. 1, to the war on drugs,
Nishida said.

Jerry Gibson, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa in
Po'ipu, yesterday dropped off a $5,000 check for the cause, as his way of
saying "thank you" to Baptiste for his involvement in pushing for a drug-free
Kaua'i, Gibson said.

The check is proceeds from the sold-out Cecilio & Kapono concert at the Hyatt
held during Koloa Plantation Days. Some 1,300 people attended the concert, and
there were many individual and corporate sponsors for and volunteers at the
event.

Kaua'i Police Department, Hyatt's Hawaiiana and protocol committee, Kukui'Ula
Development Corp., Uohara Agency, Joe's on the Green, Keoki's Paradise, King
Auto Center, Lawai Beach Resort, Po'ipu Beach Broiler, Marriott's Vacation
Club, Captain Andy's Sailing, Regency Florist, Sheraton Kauai Resort, were
among the corporate sponsors and volunteers.

Individual sponsors included Beryl Moir, Solomon Ono, Norman Tuck, Gregory
Brooks and Diane Medeiros.

During the check presentation, Baptiste said his office has a limited supply of
bumper stickers reading "End Kaua'i's Ice Age" and "End Hawai'i's Ice Age."

"Ice" is street slang for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug
believed to be at the root of much of the crime on the island.

Baptiste recommends people place the bumper stickers on their driver-side front
bumpers, where thousands of other drivers could see them on a daily basis,
versus placing them on rear bumpers, where only a dozen or so drivers may view
them.

The "repetitive message" will be more effective, he said. His new Jeep Cherokee
has bumper stickers on the front and rear bumpers.

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in the King Kaumuali'i Elementary
School cafeteria, Gary Shimabukuro of Laulima Hawaii and representatives of the
state drug-enforcement program will talk about drugs in the community.

Kaua'i Police Department officers will show their display of drugs and
paraphernalia.

This Saturday, Aug. 30, representatives of the Aloha Church and members of the
Hanama'ulu community will hold a prayer service at Hanama'ulu Beach Park at
8:30 a.m., and will pass out trilingual flyers (English, Ilocano and Tagalog)
announcing the Wednesday meeting.