With the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's "SOS" (Save Our Sports) campaign to assist public schools recently surpassing the $1 million mark, it is time to party.

So leave it to downtown Honolulu's fund-raising guru, Don Murphy, to throw the bash.

A pau-hana ho'olaulea benefitting the SOS Fund will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday in front of Murphy's Bar and Grill, on Nu'uanu and Merchant streets. The ho'olaulea will feature live music and food booths, including items prepared and served by several public school athletic directors from around the state.

All proceeds will go toward the SOS Fund, which eventually will be turned over to the state's Department of Education, which in turn will distribute it to Hawai'i's 55 public high school athletic departments according to a set formula based on student participation. Each public high school athletic department recently saw its state allocation for supplies, equipment and transportation slashed by 50 percent compared to 2008-2009, part of an overall reduction of more than 36 percent for sports.

The cuts also included reduction in stipends for coaches, resulting in the elimination of assistant coaches or coaches working for free.

"It's just a great cause — you cannot cut from our schools, it's too important," said Murphy, a renowned fund-raiser, especially for University of Hawai'i athletics. "I've admired what (the SOS Fund) has pulled off so far, and I thought, 'I can either write a check, or I can do something like this which can bring in 10 times what the check would be worth.' "

Murphy lined up title sponsors like Castle Resorts and Hotels, Chevron and Anheuser-Busch, and already has food commitments from schools like Kahuku (laulau) and Waimea (smoked meat). Maui Interscholastic League executive director Joe Balangitao said he expects items like poke from Takamiya Market, tako from Pukalani Superette and manju from Home Maid Bakery to be delivered.

Representatives of Hawai'i's public school athletic departments will be there wearing school colors and manning the stations.

"It's a typical Hawai'i thing, where everybody will get together to help," Murphy said.

Scrip will be sold for guests to purchase food and beverages, and five different levels of sponsorship — from $500 (All-League) to $10,000 (Title Sponsor) — are available.

Murphy hopes to attract up to 3,000 people and raise $100,000.

This past week's SOS Fund contributions included $20,000 from Steve and Alli Yamane, $10,000 from an anonymous donor and $10,000 from McDonald's Restaurants of Hawai'i.

The campaign's 11-week running total now stands at $1,085,731. That does not include proceeds from an online auction at www.saveoursportshawaii.com that ends today.

To make a straight contribution to the SOS Fund, make a check payable to "HHSAA SOS Account" and send it to HHSAA, P.O. Box 62029, Honolulu, HI 96839, or visit www.sportshigh.com or any First Hawaiian Bank branch (checks only).

Contributors at First Hawaiian Bank branches who are willing to be recognized in The Advertiser's weekly list of donors are asked to contact the HHSAA office at 587-4495.

Read his blog on high school sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com