Dec. 24—About three years ago, Vern Hashimoto and a group of about 20 of his friends began an annual tradition of donating to Helping Hands Hawaii’s annual Good Neighbor Fund.
The group celebrated their 50th high school reunion this year, and Hashimoto said that in the past few years they’ve contributed about $25,000 to the fund in total.
“We’re so grateful, not just for our friendships but the fact that we all came out the other end intact and successful, and yet grounded and humbled,” Hashimoto said. “We had opportunities that some others today don’t have, and we want to do our part so that some families can have a little more comfortable holiday season.”
Hashimoto and his wife have been donating to Helping Hands Hawaii since before the Good Neighbor Fund was created, he said. And after Hashimoto settled into his career, he continued to seek out ways to celebrate his personal and professional successes by giving back to the community.
Meanwhile, Hashimoto and his childhood friends maintained close friendships with one another through their shared values and upbringings. They all graduated with public school educations in 1973 from schools like Roosevelt, McKinley or Farrington High School; and despite their humble backgrounds, many found their way into successful careers, he said.
About a few years ago, the group decided they wanted to do something philanthropic together, to which Hashimoto suggested the Good Neighbor Fund. Donating as a group allowed them to help others get through the holiday season, while paying forward the gratitude they had for their life and friendships.
Other regular donors to the Good Neighbor Fund donate for similar reasons.
Jo Anne Kocher has been donating to the fund for more than a decade, and said that growing up with little means helped her understand the value of giving back, especially during the holidays.
“It was not to the extent that some are in … but I can empathize to some extent with people,” Kocher said. “It’s important to give part of yourself back. Even if you never know how it’s helped the person, you do know that it has helped in one way or another.”
Others donate in honor of loved ones, such as Carol Abe, who gives each year in honor of her parents, George and Lynn Abe. Abe’s parents used to own a bakery, and Abe recalled that each year during her childhood, she and her family would come together during the holiday to bake 50 extra pumpkin pies to give away to employees.
Meanwhile, Joseph Sam, a Helping Hands Hawaii board member and regular Good Neighbor Fund donor of about five years, said that his father inspired his spirit of giving.
He recalled moments when his father would talk about his childhood and how his family could never afford to buy a Christmas tree. Those stories stuck with Sam, who said that they taught him the importance of giving back during the holidays.
“Kids and families should not go through this, especially in the holiday season,” Sam said. “Hawaii is a small community, and the only way that it works is for people that are able to help the less fortunate.”
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Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
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