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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, November 21, 2003

Awards to honor 14 for public service

Advertiser Staff

Fourteen people or companies that made a difference in Hawai'i through philanthropic leadership or outstanding community and public service will be honored today as part of The Association of Fundraising Professionals National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Waikiki.

National Philanthropy Day honorees

JEFFERSON AWARDS HONOREES: Recognizing outstanding community and public service. Local honorees will contend for national honors under the Jefferson Awards program.


OUTSTANDING PHILANTHROPIST: Awardees well known in Maui community
IN MEMORIAM AWARDEES: Celebrating lives committed to helping, giving

OUTSTANDING CORPORATION: Supported 163 community organizations in 2002
OUTSTANDING SMALL BUSINESS:
Graham Builders sponsors Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation

OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISER:
Four decades of service to community

OUTSTANDING FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONAL:
Raised millions for local causes
This year's expanded awards include the six winners of the Jefferson Awards, nationally acclaimed honors designed to recognize outstanding community and public service. The Jefferson Awards are sponsored locally by The Honolulu Advertiser.

The Jefferson honorees are Carolyn A. Berry, Frank Boas, Ralph Hook Jr., P. Nathan Minn, Noel Trainor and Robert "Dr. Bob" Wilkinson. They will now contend for national honors under the Jefferson Awards program.

Today's other honorees are Dorvin and Betty Leis, Outstanding Philanthropist; Hawaii Medical Service Association, Outstanding Corporation; Graham Builders, Outstanding Small Business; William Gleason, Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser; Dr. Ko Miyataki, Outstanding Fundraising Professional; and Maude Wodehouse and Robert Pfeiffer, In Memoriam Awards.

National recognition

The Jefferson Awards were started in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service, founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard, founder of the National Development Council, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to developing local economies. Honorees are nominated by community organizations. Newspapers, television and radio stations nationwide then select five or six regional winners.

The American Institute's Board of Selectors will review each list of regional winners and select those who will travel to the Jefferson Awards National Ceremony. One of the six Advertiser honorees will be invited to attend the event, to be hosted by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 22, said Bob Loy of Becker Communications.

Berry was nominated by the Honolulu Symphony. She has held community volunteer positions in West Virginia, Illinois and Hawai'i, according to the nominators and judges. Berry is president and chief executive officer of Process Electronics Corp. She organized the Withrow/Berry Scholarship fund for graduate and undergraduate scholarships in men's basketball at the University of Hawai'i and established the Tressa Lee Withrow/Elizabeth Susan Berry Scholarship at the Miss Hawaii Scholarship Pageant. As chairwoman of the board of the Honolulu Symphony, Berry helped to complete several fund-raisers and endowed the Dr. and Mrs. George B. Berry Jr. chair.

Boas was nominated by the University of Hawai'i Foundation. Boas moved to Hawai'i in 1988, bringing invaluable expertise in international relations and an interest in furthering educational opportunities in international studies for students of all ages, according to the nominators and judges. Boas has made monetary gifts to the University of Hawai'i and several other local educational institutions and nonprofit organizations and has shared his experience in international law. He has made a lifelong commitment to educational exchange programs and believes that strengthening good relations and building understanding among nations can best be accomplished by exchanging students, teachers, researchers and young leaders. In 2002, Boas was honored by the state Legislature with a formal resolution citing his many worthwhile activities to foster U.S.-Asia relations.

Hook was nominated by the Waikiki Health Center. Through volunteer work and philanthropic leadership, Hook has played a vital role in several Hawai'i charities, according to nominators and judges. He has served the Waikiki Health Center and the Samaritan Counseling Center of Hawaii, helping those organizations to raise money, and has worked with the Boy Scouts, Junior Achievement, the Rotary Fellowship Foundation and the Salvation Army. He has raised more than $1 million in his years of service, and his personal endowments have been substantial. A Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Hawai'i and a former dean of the College of Business Administration, Hook's background in business and marketing has been an invaluable asset to the organizations he assists.

Minn was nominated by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. Minn watched his mother die of cancer in 2000. Since then, he has worked tirelessly as a Friends of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii board member, according to the nominators and judges. Minn is the founder and driving force behind "The Mauka Makai," an annual benefit that has raised money and friends for the Cancer Center. In three years, The Mauka Makai has raised more than $200,000. Minn has raised awareness of the work of the Cancer Center in the community and has generated many supporters. Center Director Carl-Wilhelm Vogel said plans for a new facility were made possible by Minn's work, and John Landgraf, president of the Friends, called Minn "a hurricane force for good."

Trainor was nominated by the Hawaii Foodbank. Trainor is general manager of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa and is vice chairman of the Hawaii Foodbank. He is the founder of the Hawaii Foodbank Hotel Coalition. He is married, has two daughters, manages one of the largest hotels in the world and yet, according to the nominators and judges, still finds time to make a difference in the community. In 1996, Trainor brought together competing properties from across the island to raise money for the Hawaii Foodbank. The Hotel Coalition consistently leads private coalitions in donations to the Foodbank. Since 1996, the Hotel Coalition has raised 500,000 pounds of food and more than $350,000. Trainor is also a consistent top seller in the Foodbank's annual Patriots Celebration gala. One year, he sold 43 percent of the tables.

Wilkinson was nominated by the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation. After graduating from Tulane University Medical School, doing volunteer work in a children's ward in Vietnam and training at Los Angeles County General Hospital, Wilkinson returned home to Hawai'i and formed the Hawai'i pediatric oncology team, according to the nominators and judges. Children were put on clinical trials through the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and treated, primarily at Kapi'olani Medical Center. Working with three parents, Wilkinson founded the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation in 1991 to tackle patient and family needs, including emotional and financial support. He was president of the foundation for its first 11 years and is now president emeritus and an active board member. He also served as president of the American Cancer Society Hawaii-Pacific Chapter and is chairman of the nominating committee. He serves on the Health Advisory Committee, Hawaii-Texas Leadership Committee and has been on the Childhood Cancer Committee since the early 1980s. Wilkinson served on the HUGS (Help, Understanding & Group Support) board from 1989 to 1991, was director of the Advisory Medical Board for Make-a-Wish Foundation from 1982 to 1992 and is an active member of the Newman Holy Spirit Parish where he served on the Pastoral Council from 1997 to 1999 and as Eucharistic Minister from 1999 to 2000.

Giving back

Among the other honorees today, Dorvin and Betty Leis (Outstanding Philanthropist) are known as the epitome of philanthropy for the Maui community, according to the nominators and judges. They give financially and they give as volunteers.

Dorvin owns Dorvin D. Leis Co. Inc. a mechanical contracting company he started in 1960. A contract to work on a lodge in Lahaina brought him to Maui in 1967, where he settled in 1972. Dorvin and Betty operated as a team from the beginning, with Betty working as the company's bookkeeper for more than 30 years while raising their six children. They give to more than 25 nonprofit organizations on Maui, and have been supporters of Maui Arts & Cultural Center for more than 10 years. "We made our money in the islands," Dorvin said. "We have 225 employees here. Giving to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center is one way we give back to our employees."

The Hawaii Medical Service Association (Outstanding Corporation) has a long history of corporate giving and community support, according to the nominators and judges. In 2002, HMSA supported 163 community organizations with donations, in-kind support, endowments and foundation grants totaling more than $2.8 million. To promote volunteerism, HMSA sponsors "Circle of Caring." Employees and their families and friends who volunteer at community events are rewarded with gift certificates or charitable contributions.

Graham Builders (Outstanding Small Business) for the past three years has been the sole sponsor of the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation's annual Christmas party held at Kapi'olani Medical Center. With more than 250 people in attendance, Graham Builders provides the dinner, entertainment, program, decorations and its staff wraps individual gifts from Santa for 150 children. Company owner Danny Graham helps collect toys for the annual Toys for Tots drive, which he organizes through his motorcycle club, Na Lio Kea, along with other clubs. The toys are distributed to various charities such as HCCF, and the motorcycle club's fees are donated to the Waimanalo Teen Center.

For more than 40 years as an insurance executive in Hawai'i, William Gleason (Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser) has made sure that the business day was filled not just with customer service but with community service as well, according to the nominators and judges. He has held a leadership role as a board director for the American Heart Association, Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, Hawaiian Historical Society, Honolulu Rotary Club, and the Japan-America Society. He also serves as a director for the Blood Bank of Hawaii. For nearly 20 years, he has also been a member of the ASSETS School Board of Trustees. He is the owner of Gleason and Associates.

During the past 15 years, Dr. Ko Miyataki (Outstanding Fundraising Professional) has developed various fund-raising programs and raised millions of dollars for the University of Hawai'i Foundation, REHAB Hospital and Ke Ali'i Pauahi Foundation, according to the nominators and judges. Her achievements include helping the REHAB Foundation orchestrate a $7.5 million hospital renovation capital campaign and initiating the Louis Vuitton Creative Arts Program that provides art instruction to patients and former patients at REHAB. She also serves on the boards of the Institute for Human Services, Lanakila and Living Treasures.

Lifetime of generosity

The philanthropic generosity of Maude Wodehouse (In Memoriam Award) was well known by many organizations before the news of her extraordinary bequests, her nominator and judges said. She quietly and anonymously provided leadership gifts to organizations that she admired and respected in the Hawai'i communities. With her late husband, Cenric, Maude Wodehouse set a primary value on education and supported a number of different schools throughout the state. At her death the amount to be distributed among community organizations is approximately $122 million.

Robert J. Pfeiffer (In Memoriam Award) earned a reputation for leadership — personal as well as corporate — in support of charitable and other community causes, his nominator and judges said. Pfeiffer's maritime and business career spanned 58 years, nearly 38 of them with Alexander & Baldwin Inc., and its ocean transportation subsidiary, Matson Navigation Co. Inc. Pfeiffer's legacy was not all business, though, as he was also concerned with the well being of the community. Pfeiffer served leadership roles in many professional, civic and charitable organizations.

"Hawai'i has lost one of its great leaders," said Walter A. Dods Jr., close friend, longtime A&B board member, and chairman and CEO of First Hawaiian Bank. "Bobby was a kama'aina in every sense of the word. He had a great love for Hawai'i and it showed in everything he did."

For more information about National Philanthropy Day, call 230-3653 or visit www.afphawaii.org.