Callers in Hawaii will be encouraged beginning April 24 to dial the area code 808 plus the telephone number when making local calls, six months before this will be required for local calls to complete.

The change to 10-digit dialing for local calls is driven by the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to adopt 988 as the national number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Hawaii is one of 36 states that uses 988 as a prefix; thus, providers like Hawaiian Telcom and others were required to make changes to enable 10-digit dialing to pave the way.

Seven-digit calls will still go through from April 24 through Oct. 23, but beginning Oct. 24 callers in Hawaii must dial 10 digits or local calls will not be completed.

Other devices and services also might need to be reprogrammed.

Filipino Community Center gets $50K donation

Nareit Hawaii, which supports community and charitable organizations, presented Thursday a check for $50,000 to the Filipino Community Center to help the nonprofit charitable organization expand its vaccination program on Oahu and the neighbor islands. The donation will help the Filipino Community Center reach more residents, especially those within the Filipino and Pacific Islander communities, who have shown a reluctance to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

State Department of Health research shows that Filipino and Pacific Islander residents have contracted COVID at a higher rate than other ethnic groups in Hawaii but are among the least vaccinated.