A $50,000 gift from a local donor is making it possible for Hawaii Community College to launch its first-ever matching campaign for student scholarships. The Gladys Sonomura Matching Fund for Educational Opportunity will match new donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis, effectively doubling the amount of support available for students with financial need who are enrolled in courses or programs that require practical experience outside the classroom.
HCC has a rich history of work-based learning. Students in every discipline have opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom, and give back to the community. Those in the transportation trades may work on customer jobs, while students in career and technical education programs — business, nursing, culinary arts, and hospitality — have access to internships, service learning, and volunteer work.
At the centerpiece is the college’s highly applauded Model Home project, a partnership between several of the college’s Applied Technical Education programs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. This project has produced 45 residential dwellings for Hawaii residents over the past 45 years. This project gives students in the construction trades programs an opportunity to design and build a house, with those in the agriculture program creating the landscaping. Such practical training experiences rarely offer salaries or stipends, so the burden on the neediest students is particularly acute.
Chancellor Noreen Yamane commented, “With the majority of our students requiring financial assistance in order to complete their degrees or certificates, building private support for scholarships is one of our highest priorities.” Yamane continued, “This matching gift opportunity fueled by a generous gift from Mrs. Sonomura will greatly support our efforts to encourage others to support our students. By investing in our students today, our entire community will earn dividends for decades to come.”
Two ways to take advantage of the Gladys Sonomura Matching Fund for Educational Opportunity at Hawai‘i Community College:
— Donations at any level to a new Sonomura/Community Fund for Practical Experience at Hawaii Community College will be matched on a one-to-one basis, doubling available funds to offset student costs for participating in faculty-initiated projects which offer curriculum-specific practical experience. Examples of such projects include study or travel abroad, field trips, competitions etc. A maximum of $20,000 in matching funds will be available for this purpose.
— Alternatively, donors may establish their own named, discipline-specific scholarship funds, with gifts ranging from $1,500 to $2,500. These gifts will be doubled, thanks to dollar-for-dollar matching funds, and provide annual scholarships to support students enrolled in career and technical education courses which require unpaid internships, practica, cooperative vocational education, or other types of field experiences. Awards will be made on the basis of financial need (with priority to students who are eligible for federal Pell grants), and scholarships will be applied toward the cost of tuition, books, and supplies/tools.
“We’re excited about giving donors the opportunity to double the value of their donations, thanks to the generosity of this longtime supporter,” said Joel Tanabe, Construction Technology Department chair.
For more information on matching scholarship opportunities at HCC, please contact Margaret Shiba at 933-0829 or margaret.shiba@uhfoundation.org. You can also make a gift online at www.uhfoundation.org/SonomuraCommunityFund.
