KANE'OHE — The Kaneohe Business Group wants to help students seeking higher education at Windward Community College obtain their goal through an endowment created by the community and will kick off the fund-raising effort with an auction Saturday.

Educational endowments are often gifts from the wealthy who set aside thousands and in some cases millions of dollars to be invested and the profits used for scholarships, maintenance of buildings or operation of programs, among other uses. The Windward Community College Scholarship Endowment will be the first of its kind, started by community members for students going to the two-year college, said KC Collins, a volunteer with the endowment committee.

"Just about every kid walking in the door there needs financial aid," Collins said, adding that this will be a broad fund that will help students meet all kinds of needs. "Let's just help these kids ... use the funds to continue with their educational program and change their lives."

In order to begin the community fund, the business group must raise $10,000, the minimum required to open a University of Hawai'i Foundation endowment. Members will do this with a silent auction that will run during the Windward Ho'olaule'a on Saturday at the college, said Sandy Kurosaki, auction chairwoman.

More than 130 items have been donated and the group is still accepting donations, Kurosaki said.

Topping the list of items is a 2009 Nissan Versa with a starting bid of $12,995. There's a vacation package for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; tickets for the Superferry; a meal at P.F. Chang's; six yards of concrete and a hundred more items including jewelry, household goods, music, plants and ceramics. A separate part of the auction includes works by 18 artists such as Hiroshi Tagami, Richard Pettit, Michael Powell and Frank Shaner.

Last year the business group ran its first auction and raised $6,000 that was given to the school for scholarships, Kurosaki said. This year the goal is to raise $12,000, but the money will be used to start an endowment.

"We look at this as long range," she said. "This is not just a one-shot deal."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 239-7618.