Hawaii hairdresser buys plane ticket for homeless

[July 02, 2010]  HONOLULU (AP) -- A Hawaii hairdresser is helping send a homeless man from Seattle back home to be with his ailing father. Denise Sakai answered a call from state Rep. John Mizuno for donations to send Gregory Reese to Washington state. Instead of just a partial donation, Sakai bought Reese a $299 ticket online for a flight Thursday to Seattle.

Sakai said she read about Reese in the paper and was touched that he just wanted to be with his dad.

Reese became homeless when two job offers here fell through. The 39-year-old said his father has lung cancer and cannot afford a ticket to bring him back.

Mizuno hopes to create a program to send more homeless from the mainland back home.

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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com/

[Associated Press]

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