LIHU‘E — Barbara Green and the Kaua‘i Filipino Women’s Club took advantage of the loosened pandemic health and safety rules to invite the recipients of scholarships presented by the club to get their individual awards in person.
Meeting in the shadow of the Dr. Jose Rizal statue, considered a Philippines national hero, on the lawn of the Historic County Building on Rice Street in Lihu‘e, the group was joined by Mayor Derek Kawakami, who presented his personal congratulations to the scholarship recipients, and members of the Kaua‘i County Council, including Felicia Cowden, who made the appointment despite being in attendance at a presentation in Princeville. Councilmembers were offered an opportunity to congratulate each of the awardees, who received $1,000 scholarships.
Two of the recipients — Jhanalei Sales and Napua Canales — are graduates of Kaua‘i High School. Jhoanna Marie Domingo earned her diploma at Kapa‘a High School, Morgan Joy Igaya was a member of the Waimea High School Class of 2021, and Sydney Jona walked with the Island School graduates at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Puhi campus.
In addition to the scholarship distribution, the Kaua‘i Filipino Women’s Club presented a $500 award to the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i Branch for the work it does in the community.
The club earlier partnered with the foodbank for Na Ho‘omaka Hou pop-up food distribution for more than 300 families at the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center.
While the task of food distributions have been placed on the shoulders of food pantries, the foodbank is currently engaged in a virtual food drive, said Chyenne Beach of the foodbank.
The virtual food drive is hosted on the foodbank’s website — hawaiifoodbank.org/kauai-virtual — and allows contributors a safe and convenient way to help the foodbank get some of the most-needed items while leaving the grocery store shelves with food for others.
An illustrated guide on the website provides guidance on the contribution amounts — anything from a single commodity to enough to feed families or kupuna, or make meal purchases.
Green said the primary source of funding for the scholarships and other community-service projects comes from the club’s signature Terno Ball event that was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said she is hopeful the club can resume the event this year.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
