If you can join Bill and Naomi on December 16, 10am to give blood, you will be a hero! We are going to the 1907 Young Street site. Do you know that every 2 seconds, someone in Hawaii needs blood? The Blood Bank of Hawaii is making an urgent plea to help donate blood, as they are running low and the holidays bring an increase need to blood. One pint of blood can save 3 lives and they need 200 donars each day.
I am representing our club as the HRYF Scholarship representative. All high school students applying for the HRYF scholarship need to submit their application and recommendation forms by 2/1/26. Interviews of these applicants will then need to be completed by 2/20/26. Please let me know if you are interested in joining me on the scholarship committee. I am looking for 3 volunteers. You can email me at jventura@fhb.com.
Mahalo!
Jeff Ventura
The Hawaii Rotary Youth Foundation (HRYF), was founded by Maurice J. “Sully” Sullivan during his year as the Rotary’s District Governor in Hawaii, 1976-1977. Its main objective is to provide scholarships for Hawaii youth to further their education after high school. Scholarship funds are provided from Rotarians, investments, gifts, individual donors, and interest from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Grant. Each participating Hawaii District 5000 Rotary Club selects a deserving high school student to receive a scholarship to a 4-year college or university in Hawaii or on the U.S. Mainland to earn a baccalaureate degree. Scholarship Awards: For the 2025-2026 year, each participating Rotary Club will select a student to receive a $5,000 or $2,500 HRYF scholarship. From those students selected by the Rotary Clubs, an HRYF committee then selects one student attending a mainland university to receive a $10,000 Maurice J. Sullivan scholarship and another student attending a university in Hawaii to receive the $10,000 Joanna L. Sullivan scholarship. These two scholarships will be awarded instead of the $5,000 awarded by the individual Club.
Like in years past, WHR members have generously given of their time to serve as volunteer judges for the annual DOE Honolulu School District noncompetitive speech festival. Kids in grades 3 to 5 participate in various categories such as choral reading, poetry, interpretative reading, etc. This spring event will be held on Saturday, April 25, McKinley High, 7A (breakfast/instructions) to 10:30 followed by an awards ceremony.
Let Grace Fujiyoshi know if you are able to judge this event. Thank you for help. <fujiyoshi.grace@gmail.com>
Upcoming Community Service Event: Child & Family Service - Holiday Donation; Saturday, December 13, 2025 from Richard Ing, Community Service Chair.
Dear Fellow Rotarians and Friends,
The Holidays are upon us!
This year, our Club has agreed to sponsor a holiday gift donation drive for the Child and Family Service ("CFS"), a Hawaiʻi-born, impact-driven, community-based organization with a mission of strengthening families and fostering the healthy development of children. CFS' statewide community programs include preschool education, prevention of child abuse and neglect, programs for at-risk youth, domestic violence emergency services, therapeutic counseling, employment assistance, programs for elder care, and more.
Using core values of HOPE (Humility, Ownership, Perseverance, & Engagement), CFS works with families to help them achieve their dreams including, financial independence, planning for a thriving future and caring for all generations of their ‘ohana.
CFS has requested that our Club members donate items in its wish list so that CFS may, in turn, distribute your donated gifts to the children of families in their program. These items include:
Coloring books and crayons
Character blankets
Trucks and race cars
Soft toys for babies
Musical toys
Bubbles
Board games
Slime kits
Kinetic sand
Busy boards or sensory books
Barbie dolls
Pullups/Diapers/Wipes
Superhero toys
Disney dolls/Baby dolls
Kpop demon hunters toys
We are requesting that the Club members who are attending this year's Club Christmas Party at Mid-Pac CC on December 13, 2025, bring one or more of the items listed above by noting the item(s) that the Member intends to bring on our Club's Google Docs signup sheet and by bringing the item(s) to the Christmas Party at Mid-Pac CC where they will be collected and delivered to CFS.
Please visit the following Google Doc's link to see CFS' wish list and to sign up for the item(s) you intend to bring.
PLEASE PRESENT THE ITEMS IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING AND DO NOT WRAP THE GIFTS.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
2026 Rotary International Convention will take place in Taipei Taiwan, June 13-17, 2026. See link below for more information. https://convention.rotary.org/en-us/about
Friday 12th is Dark, Saturday 13th is the annual Christmas Party at Mid-Pacific Country Club.
Regular meeting location and time,
Click here to sign up for our club activities: (Bookmark or add to favorites this link for easy access)
Our regular meetings are held at The Edge at 31 North Pauahi. We need a head count by Tuesday each week before the meeting, please sign up on the Google form CLICK HEREor via the emailed invite. Address : 31 North Pauahi Street, between Nuuanu and Smith, private room the the back, parking at Municipal lot at 1-35 N Beretania St. Payment by credit card only. If you didn't sign up, please join us and get your food upfront in the restaurant.
West Honolulu Sign Up sheet