MEDIA RELEASE

Family Support Hawaii (formerly Family Support Services of West Hawaii) has received a $122,500 grant from the Hawai’i Community Foundation – Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund to support The Rainbow Connection: Volunteers in Support of Big Island Families.

Patrick “Paki” Story, Executive Director of Family Support Hawaii said that the grant will utilize trained volunteers to visit the families of newborns in the Kona Community Hospital. Volunteers will welcome the baby to the community with a newborn baby basket which will contain an infant front pack carrier to encourage bonding and attachment, an island wide resource directory to connect families to services, as well as a first book and other information on parenting.

The newborn basket project is being done in partnership with Hawaii Island’s Baby STEPS Council as part of their initiative to strengthen island families. The Newborn baskets were first delivered in December of 2004. Baskets were delivered for four years until funding ran out for both the contents and assembly of the baskets. Coupled with cuts to the Healthy Start Program, delivery has been suspended for almost a year. Renewed funding for production was recently awarded through Social Currency and on-going partners like KTA SuperStores, Kamehameha Schools, the North Hawaii Drug Free Coalition, Friends of the Future and others are excited to be “back in business”.

“This is an opportunity for volunteers to welcome new babies to the community and to provide parents with information on the resources available to them” said Bev Fraser, Coordinator of Volunteer Services. “Sometimes new families need help with finding resources that are available in the community and may not know where to look for them. The volunteers with the Rainbow Connection will assist those families to find what they need so that parents can provide the care and nurturing that every newborn needs”. Anyone who is interested in volunteering with this project should contact Bev at 334-4103.

Family Support Hawaii’s mission is “to support families and communities in providing love and care for our children.” The organization was established in 1979 by community volunteers who were concerned for the children traumatized by abuse and neglect in our community. The agency has been in the forefront of providing free supportive services to families through its Family Resource Centers in Waimea, Kailua-Kona, and Ka’u.

Established in 1916, the Hawaii Community Foundation is a state-wide charitable services and grantmaking institution endowed with contributions from many donors. The Hawai’i Children’s Trust Fund is a public-private partnership that was created by statue in 1993 for the purpose of “preventing child and abuse and neglect by strengthening families”. The partnership is made up of the Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Department of Health, an Advisory Board and a Coalition. Hawaii Community Foundation has oversight over grant making funded by the Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund endowment.

For more information on other services provided by Family Support Services of West Hawaii, visit www.familysupporthawaii.org