Miss Hawai'i 2004 Brings Aloha Spirit to A&PI Wellness
Center and First National A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Miss Hawai'i 2004, Olena Rubin, brought the aloha spirit
to A&PI Wellness Center on Fri., Mar. 11 and helped promote
the Banyan Tree Project's first National A&PI HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day to a variety of local ethnic and LGBT press.
The gracious, articulate and personable beauty queen brought
her considerable talents to bear in media interviews with
the Bay Area Reporter and "PolyTalk," the Bay Area's
only Polynesian public access cable TV news show, the latter
in which she sang, a capella, a theme song from "American
Idol." Olena had been an audition contestant for the
popular TV show.
Olena also lent her time, energy and image in a video and
still photo shoot for A&PI Wellness Center, expressing
her thoughts and feelings about the importance of the first
National A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and the reasons behind
her commitment to HIV education among young people all over
the world. A video clip of Olena will be used in a DVD that
will be shown at national awareness day events in San Francisco,
Boston, Honolulu, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
and her photo will grace some of the national marketing materials
being produced for the Banyan Tree Project and the May 19th
event.
This 23-year old hapa junior at Hawai'i Pacific University
(she's half Chinese and half Jewish) from Kauai, is a powerful
A&PI role model and charismatic ambassador in the fight
against HIV/AIDS. Not only is she Hawai'i's official state
hostess promoting Hawai'i tourism across the nation and around
the globe, but, more importantly, she is a spokesperson, lobbyist,
volunteer and activist, educating and supporting children
and teens infected with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS. In her
own words, she explains, "HIV and AIDS know no borders,
no economic class, no age, no gender. According to a recent
United Nations report, AIDS claimed over 3 million lives last
year and almost 5 million people became infected with HIV.
"I am committed to responding to this epidemic in our
community, said Rubin. Among her activities are increasing
public awareness through education, teaching the ABCs of HIV
and advocating effective prevention programs. "The ABCs
stand for A for abstinence, B for be monogamous and C for
use condoms, said Olena.
Miss Hawai'i will be a featured spokesperson in history's
first ever National A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event
on Thurs., May 19, in her native state. A&PI Wellness
Center has the privilege of hosting the flagship event for
this day--with A&PI celebrities, elected officials, community
leaders, families and members living with and impacted by
HIV/AIDS--at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in San Francisco.
Concurrent high-visibility events will take place in Honolulu,
Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Boston.
For more information, contact:
Lori Reiko Higa MBA, Technology Management
Capacity Building Assistance Lead Consultant
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center
Tel: 415.292.3400 x327
Fax: 415.292.3404
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