$900,000 GRANT TO UH RESEARCHERS

Tom Speitel and co-primary investigator Neil Scott, researchers with the Curriculum Research & Development Group in the College of Education at the University of Hawai'i- Manoa, have been awarded a three-year, $900,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation.

The grant supports the establishment of a three-year nontraditional youth-based program that teaches information technology to Hawai'i teenagers through hands-on projects that focus on electronics and embedded microcomputers. The projects are designed to help disabled and elderly people use computers.

AMERICAN SAVINGS GIVES TO KIDS' CLUB

American Savings Bank awarded a $15,000 grant to the Boys and Girls Club of Maui for the Power Hour, an after-school homework assistance and educational enhancement program for ages 6 to 18.

The money will allow the club to offer the program in the Kahekili Terrace low-income housing area in Wailuku.

FUNDS SUPPORT CANCER ASSISTANCE

The American Cancer Society received $10,000 from the Adrienne Wong Toyozaki Fund and the James & Winifred D. Robertson Fund to support quality-of-life programs for women on the Big Island.

This is the continuation of a grant made by the funds in 2004. The money will provide Big Island women with training volunteers to help them cope with cancer, ground and air transportation to treatment, medical equipment and nutritional supplements.

BETA BETA GAMMA SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS

The Beta Beta Gamma Foundation has provided a $2,000 grant to the Hawai'i Chapter of the American Red Cross' Kaua'i County division to fund scholarships for underprivileged individuals to receive certified nurse's aide training.

The foundation also awarded $5,500 for University of Hawai'i student scholarships and $500 to the Roosevelt High School Project Graduation, supporting a drug- and alcohol-free graduation celebration for students.

VIERRA FUND HAS PLEDGED $20,000

The Theodore A. Vierra Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation has pledged $20,000 over a two-year period to the American Cancer Society. It will fund Big Island programs for people age 50 and older who are living with cancer.