(Thanks, m. :)

Reader mingo writes/sends us:

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AFTER REACHING NA'ALEHU ON WEDNESDAY, Dr. Clifford Kopp hit the mid-point of his 500-mile walk around Hawai'i Island, with an aim to bring light to the issue of unsheltered homelessness in Hawai'i County.

The 500-mile trek began on Friday, Sept. 23 and is Kopp’s fifth walk in less than a year. Adding an additional 200 miles to previous walks, Kopp said the number is more closely aligned with how many unsheltered women and children he believes are on the island.

“According to my accounts, half the homeless on our island are women and children. They don’t deserve the way they are treated,” Kopp said. “There is probably nowhere else in the country where women and children who are unsheltered are as ignored as they are in our county. I am walking to raise awareness for them.”

Earlier this year, the Kailua-Kona dentist outlined an idea for 12- and 48-bed concepts that would provide shelter needs to 300 people in West Hawai'i. Kukuiola Village would offer a practical way of sheltering the homeless before providing services to transition into more permanent living situations.

Kopp began his 16-day journey in West Hawai'i, walking the island clockwise. He is now about to embark on his second loop of the island, totaling an additional 200 miles from previous walks conducted in December/January, January/February, March and June. He will conclude his current walk on Oct. 8 as he travels on that day from an area about nine miles out of Hawi to his home in Kailua-Kona.

“I’m walking most of the time, not feeling well. The only thing that gets me though it is knowing the travesty that’s happening on our island, where the people who have done nothing wrong are being treated so poorly,” Kopp said. “Keeping them in mind allows me to keep walking mile-after-mile, even when I don’t think I have it in me.

“You could never do this type of walk if it was for a personal reason, but you can do it with an understanding of the number of good people being absolutely ignored by the government.”

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News from the Big Island.

I am proud of my dentist!
Aloha from mingo
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