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(Press Release from the Hawaii Island HIV & AIDS Foundation)
HIHAF receives grant from Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund - Oct. 2007

Hawai’i Island HIV/AIDS Foundation was awarded a grant in the amount of $7000 from Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund to produce a two-part series of public service announcements about HIV Prevention and Awareness targeted for our local TV viewers.

We are pleased to announce our partnership with Oceanic Time Warner, who will donate air time to our PSA’s so they can be viewed state-wide. HIHAF has teamed up with Roland Joseph Torres, the producer of Kama’aina Backroads, which airs on OC16 to produce the two-part series PSA’s.

As the number of cases of HIV and AIDS continue to rise every year, we feel this is an important step in addressing this issue here in Hawai’i. This is the first time since 2002 that a PSA is being produced that focuses on HIV/AIDS on the Island of Hawai`i.

Georgie Kennedy, the Executive Director of HIHAF commented: “Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share what we know about HIV/AIDS prevention with the entire island. Visual media is a great way to reach a very large audience. We are excited to be bringing our HIV prevention message to our island for the first time in many years.”

Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunication industry’s AIDS action organization, uses funds for the TCCF to encourage community-based AIDS Service Organizations (ASO’s) and cable outlets to partner in joint community outreach efforts, or to produce and distribute new, locally focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and public service announcements (PSAs). Established in 1996, the Tony Cox Community Fund, formerly known as the Tony Cox Fund for Local HIV/AIDS Programming, is named in honor of Winston “Tony” Cox, a founding Honorary Chair of Cable Positive and a major cable industry leader. As Chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks Inc. and throughout his career, Mr. Cox was a major advocate of original cable television programming and AIDS education. Since the program’s inception, more than $1.5 million has been awarded to more than 230 AIDS Service Organizations in 38 states.
Time Warner Cable Inc. is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S. and an industry leader in developing and launching innovative video, data and voice services. This company was the first or among the first cable operators to offer high speed data service, IP-based telephony service and a range of advanced digital video services, such as VOD, high definition television and set-top boxes equipped with DVRs. Since 1969, Hawaii residents have relied on Oceanic for quality cable service. Today, Oceanic operates one of the most technically-advanced and innovative systems in the industry. As an industry leader, Oceanic proactively invests in state-of-the-art network infrastructure and is at the forefront in providing new subscriber services. Nearly every household and business statewide has access to cable service. Over 200,000 homes statewide are connected to the Internet with high-speed cable modems through Oceanic’s fiber coax hybrid signal delivery system. As the flagship of AOL Time Warner Cable in Hawaii, Oceanic provides a diverse selection of entertainment and information services to nearly 350,000 households, schools and businesses. Oceanic is a kama`aina, or Hawaii-grown, company that currently employs over 600 highly-trained individuals.