Library hours change for Ironman
Kailua-Kona Public Library will offer special hours on Monday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., because of the 2015 Ironman World Championship.
On Saturday, the day of the triathlon, the library will be closed because the roads and areas in front of it will be shut down, making the library inaccessible for patrons. The book drops will remain open.
The library will reopen at noon Oct. 13 and resume its regular public service schedule.
Seniors spending day at beach park
Kailua-Kona Seniors meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Kmart parking lot. Members will be car pooling to Spencer Beach State Park. Members should provide a brown bag lunch and drink and bring swimsuits. They should also have their transportation fee ready for the driver.
The is no meeting at Hale Halawai this week.
For more information, call Dave at 345-1388 or Pat at 329-2424.
Suicide prevention group meeting
West Hawaii Suicide Prevention Task Force meets from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday in the conference room at the West Hawaii Community Health Center on the corner of Hualalai Road and Kuakini Highway.
All are welcome to attend who have an interest in preventing suicide in the community and willingness to join this collective effort to keep family and friends safe from the threat of suicide.
For more information, contact Nancy Sallee at 333-8988.
Business plan training offered
A “How to Write a Business Plan” seminar will teach participants how to develop a business plan or revise an existing one with step-by-step instructions. The session will include business plan financials. The seminar is from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday at Kuakini Tower, Suite 212A. Kailua-Kona. The fee is $20.
Register at www.hisbdc.org.
For more information, call 327-3680.
Traffic safety group meets Thursday
Kona Traffic Safety Committee meets from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the mayor’s conference room at the West Hawaii Civic Center to discuss traffic issues with public officials who can make a difference. Everyone is welcome.
Hotels compete to help Food Basket
This past July, team members at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel held a spirit week as part of the hotel’s 50th anniversary. An employee food drive during the week resulted in nearly 6,759 pounds of food being donated to the Hawaii Island Food Basket, the largest donation ever by a hotel to the nonprofit organization.
In the spirit of friendly competition, employees of Mauna Kea Resort’s Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel were challenged during their spirit week recently to meet or exceed Mauna Kea Beach Hotel’s donation. And exceed it they did.
On Sept. 25, the Hawaii Island Food Basket truck was not nearly large enough for the 11,832 pounds of food that awaited it at the hotel’s loading dock. Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel’s 480 team members had come together like never before.
In total, Mauna Kea Resort has now contributed more than 18,500 pounds of food this year to Hawaii Island Food Basket, all part of a yearlong giving campaign, 50 Acts of Aloha. It is anticipated that the spirit week at the two hotels, inclusive of the food drive, will become an annual event.
New scholarship fund set up
Dr. Hany Guirguis and Adele Etinas, longtime supporters of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, have established the John M. and Mimi F. Pezzuto Excellence Scholarship Fund for student pharmacists in recognition of the Pezzutos’ contributions to the growth of the college.
“There is a couple behind the creation of this college and we need to recognize them forever,” said Guirguis, whose company has donated $80,000 to the college over the last four years and supplemented it with an additional $20,000 this year.
Guirguis and Etinas were co-owners of Mina Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy that included 11 locations throughout Hawaii before being purchased by CVS Pharmacy. Since the sale of Mina Pharmacy, the pair set up a new corporation, Mina Compounding Pharmacy, which specializes in preparing a pharmaceutical product to fit the need of a particular patient.
Pezzuto is the founding dean for the College of Pharmacy, and his wife, Mimi, who is a licensed pharmacist in Illinois and Hawaii, has been an instructor at the college since moving to Hilo with their three children in 2006.
To make a gift in support of the students and programs at the college, visit uhfoundation.org/GivetoPharmacy or contact Mariko Miho at mariko.miho@uhfoundation.org or 932-7692.