Taizo Braden, former traffic reporter for Hawaii News Now, will debut as a videojournalist on KHON-TV come Monday.
No one person has caused so many questions to cascade into your columnist’s email in box or voice mail as has Braden since his disappearance from TV months ago. Braden’s departure was "a personnel matter," said Mark Platte, news director at HNN, when asked about the change in February. Braden did not reply to queries sent via social media at the time of his departure from HNN.
He started his TV career off-camera in advertising sales, but moved to the newsroom and was most recently a traffic reporter working a brutal early morning and evening split shift at HNN.
As a videojournalist, Braden will both shoot video and report stories for KHON’s newscasts, according to a statement from the station.
EXTRA MILEAGE FOR FOUNDATION
A $500 windfall for the Honolulu office of the Arthritis Foundation, Pacific Region, will turn into many, many, many more dollars.
"It’s really a great program," said Jennifer Hee, local Arthritis Foundation executive director.
The Wisconsin facilities of England-based 4imprint, a promotional products company, offered $500 a day to nonprofit organizations that clicked on a banner on its home page.
Bang! The Hawaii-based nonprofit was one of 50 organizations selected to share in $30,000 in grants and in-kind donations 4imprint made in its "one by one" philanthropic program during the first quarter of the year.
"The main thing for us was, we don’t have the money to spend on logo items," so getting an instant and free budget for promotional items was a big deal.
The decision was made to get logo-emblazoned pedometers to use in its health and wellness partnership with Walmart.
"They encourage associates, on their own time, to get out and walk, volunteer for nonprofits" and the like, and to track the time. "For how ever many hours, Walmart donates money to the nonprofit."
"This really helped us, almost like doubling our money, because we got the logo items to promote health and wellness with a large company, and in turn we get funding back from that company," Hee said.
The foundation will stage its annual Arthritis Walk at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 20.
"It’s our only fundraiser. … All the money raised goes to support programs that we have."
Those include exercise and educational programs.
Willing walkers can register through the foundation’s walk website, or they can request a brochure via phone at 596-2900.
4imprint, the promotional products company, has awarded nearly $827,000 in grants to nonprofits in the past six years. And it is still accepting applications online.
Any 501(c)3 entity, religious organization or school, or registered Canadian charity, is eligible to apply. All are asked to submit applications a minimum of two months before items will be used to allow for application processing and product delivery.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
