Funny but somewhat pitiful story from Patterico about a group of volunteers and other donors who unknowingly built a $1 million estate for a couple who make over a quarter million dollars a year. So much for financial need being a basis for the Extreme Makeover decision making process.

What wasn’t well known to the hundreds of volunteers who participated in the event until after all was said and done, was that Momi Akana, as President of the nonprofit, collects an annual salary of more than $100,000 from the funds it receives from the state and other organizations in the form of grant money.

Nor were the volunteers aware that the Akana family collected more than $20,000 in rental income annually for a portion of their property that was used by the nonprofit for its service activities.

Nor were the volunteers aware that Stan Akana is a Vice-President at First Hawaiian Bank, the second largest banking entity in the state, making an annual salary of better than $125,000.

But, the house that was built – with 3500 square feet — is easily worth well over $1 million in today’s market in Hawaii.

I’m not sure all the volunteers who gave so much of their time and effort to the project would agree that helping out a family with an annual income above $250,000 was what they bargained for.

Before anyone leaves a comment from Hawaii talking about how great these people are and what great work they do, blah, blah, blah, let’s wait until the Attorney General of Hawaii finishes his investigation into the financial dealings of the non-profit and see what he has to say.

Also, whether or not they do good, I agree with Patterico’s sentiment, weren’t the producers of the show able to find someone who both did good work and was not financially well off? Isn’t that the idea of the show and I have to imagine that Hawaii is filled with selfless, underpaid teachers, social workers, EMTs, etc., that do incredible social good and, unlike the Akanas, have real financial need because of it.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 10:40 pm by Insider and is filed under Politically Correct ... and stupid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.