Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 8, 1 August 1999 — Benefit concerts [ARTICLE]

Benefit concerts

An article by Katrina Souza in your March issue states that Native Hawaiians currently lead the state as the largest homeless ethnic group at 37.5 percent. This is a shocking statistic. On Sunday, June 27, there was a mass drive around O'ahu in memory of Brother Iz and the organizers say they want to do it every year. I would like to suggest that a more appropriate memorial would be an annual benefit concert with the profits going to benefit Native Hawaiians. This would be a fitting and useful tribute. The admission could be kept at about $5 so that everyone could afford it. While it was a sincere effort, the idea of driving around the island on our already crowded and sometimes narrow roads did not seem to be of mueh benefit and could be dangerous. Nancy Bey Littie Mililani