BARBARA BENNETT TO SPEAK on KING KAUMUALII Zonta Meeting July 3rd

For Kaua’i Publisher Barbara Bennett to speak about Friends of King Kaumualii on July 3rd.

Information for Zonta July 3rd

Bio and Ms. Bennett’s presentation about the

FRIENDS OF KING KAUMUALI‘I, – Vision realized.

July 3rd, Barbara Bennett, owner & publisher of For Kaua‘i Magazine and Vice President of Friends of King Kaumuali‘i will be speaking to the Zonta Club of Kaua‘i. Ms. Bennett has long been an advocate and organizer supporting tangible community efforts as a volunteer for the past 18 years as a resident on Kaua‘i.

In 1996 arriving to the island as the Sales Director for This Week Publication, she immediately became involved with the tennis community and organized the USTA adult tennis league. Over 200 players became immediate members of the league and it has grown significantly over the years. Fund raising events followed to aid the DARE programs and supporting junior tennis league activities on Kaua‘i.

A member of the Board of Directors for the Kauai Chamber of Commerce, Kauai Visitors Bureau, and State Board member of the Small Business Regulatory Review Board. Also a member of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Publishers Assoc., Bennett organized an agricultural organization, KAI, Kauai Agricultural Initiative. Many initiatives followed over the next 6 years such as The Garden Island Range and Food Festival, Waste not Want not, a gleaning program benefiting the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and the Mayors Aloha Garden.

In 2004 Ms. Bennett coordinated with The Honolulu Advertiser to bring a second newspaper to the island of Kaua‘i called Kaua‘i Island News later to be renamed Kaua‘i People. This successful newspaper evolved to become For Kaua‘i Magazine in 2011 and Barbara became owner and publisher.

Also in 2004, continuing her community organizational challenges and successes, the vision came forefront and the dream to have a statue of Kauai’s king. This longing for a statue of the king has been deeply steeped in the culture of the island but had never become a reality. This dream and vision followed the 3 years of 9 day events called Kauaian Days, Director and Organizer, Ms. Bennett.

This dream quickly dissipated when in order to commission a statue of King Kaumuali‘i there was no source of a picture of the king. It was in 2004 that the non-profit organization Friends of King Kaumuali‘i was established. This project initiated in print and the fund raising began by Kaua‘i Island News but then quickly died.

Eight years later a very surprising email arrived at the desk of Ms. Bennett with a request to reserve three advertisements in For Kaua‘i Magazine. One of the three ads that was sent was a picture of King Kaumuali‘i. The picture was quickly responded to and the wheels where put into motion. This is where the story of Friends of King Kaumuali‘i begins. The picture of the king, artist Brook Kapukuniahi Parker, was a rendering featured on the cover in For Kaua‘i Magazine, 2013. The story continues in For Kaua‘i September 2014.