Grant for “Life or Meth: Hawaii’s Youth”
A&B FOUNDATION LEADS EFFORT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE
Top Business-Funded Donor To Educational Effort

HONOLULU, HAWAII – The Alexander & Baldwin Foundation has made a donation of $40,000 to the Pacific Arts Foundation to help fund two drug abuse education/prevention efforts: a televised documentary geared for the general public and workplace videos targeted for the maritime and agricultural industries.

An initial $20,000 was designated to support the production of the feature documentary “Life or Meth: Hawaii’s Youth,” an important anti-drug public service program that will be simulcast on December 7, 2004; commercial free, 7 – 8 pm statewide (KHON2, KHNL, KITV, K5, KGMB, KBFD, KIKU). An additional $20,000 was awarded to support the development of a series of workplace-appropriate drug educational videos that will address the impact of illegal drugs on employees and employers in Hawaii’s maritime and agricultural industries. 

“Our employees have told us that drug abuse is a major issue affecting their communities, their families and their lives,” said Meredith J. Ching, chair of the A&B Foundation’s Hawaii Committee. “So, we are extremely proud to take a lead position in supporting these educational videos, on behalf of our employees and our businesses.  We are confident that the Pacific Arts Foundation will develop quality tools that will help all of us recognize signs of drug abuse around us, and its impacts.  Education is the first step in prevention – the most critical step in addressing drug use.”

The A&B Foundation and the ILWU-Local 142 rallied a group of concerned business leaders, primarily representing the longshore/maritime industries, who agreed that Hawaii’s businesses would benefit from workplace efforts to educate their employees about what drug abuse looks like, how it can impact users and their families, and how it can impact their employers.  All together, $80,000 has been committed to these projects by this maritime group.

The Alexander & Baldwin Foundation is funded by the business activities of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. and its subsidiaries, which include Matson Navigation Company, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S), Kauai Coffee® Company, Kahului Trucking & Storage,  Kauai Commercial Company, East Maui Irrigation Co., and A&B Properties, Inc.   For more information about the A&B Foundation, visit website www.alexanderbaldwin.com/abf.

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