Community Roundup for March 21

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Artwork sought for spring festival

Artwork sought for spring festival

This year the East Hawaii Cultural center has added an extra intake day for all artists to enter the East Hawaii Cultural Center’s 36th annual Spring Arts Festival, with $1,000 in cash prizes to the award winners.

EHCC will be accepting art on Friday, March 30, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and on Saturday, March 31, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Entries must be original works only, completed within the last two years and not exhibited in any juried show in the County of Hawaii. All entries must be ready for installation with wire for hanging and display bases and/or mounts. Shrink wrap, clip frames and works difficult or unsafe to install may not be accepted. Artists must be available for installation of large or difficult works. Entry Fees for members are $15 per entry up to three entries and non-members $25 per entry up to three entries.

The opening reception and awards will be held on Friday, April 6, at 5:30 p.m. The Spring Arts Exhibit will be open and free to the public Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information on the festival or on the prospectus, visit ehcc.org or call 961-5711.

Local woman wins fellowship

Shannon Ramirez has been awarded a national fellowship by Reading Is Fundamental, the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. Ramirez, who serves as the RIF coordinator for Family Support Hawaii (FSH), is one of 25 people nationally to be offered a fellowship to attend Fundraising Is Fundamental: Development Strategies for RIF Programs, funded by Macy’s.

The program will be held in Washington, D.C., in early May. The program was developed in response to RIF’s recent loss of federal funding. With a goal to discuss fundraising ideas and challenges, the program’s findings will eventually be shared with all RIF programs across the U.S.

“I am very grateful and honored to be selected to represent the state of Hawaii,” Ramirez said. “But this has been a group effort involving FSH employees and RIF volunteers who have worked hard to make our local RIF events so successful. Our success has come to the attention of RIF headquarters, and my appointment will allow me the chance to give back to our community by sharing the best practices I’ll learn in Washington.”

RIF volunteers distribute books, staging reading motivation activities, and promoting the importance of literacy in the community. RIF delivers free books and literacy resources to those children who need them most. The seeds of inspiration within books motivate children to become lifelong readers. For more information, contact RIF coordinator Shannon Ramirez at (808) 334-4111.