News Release

99% of First Hawaiian Bank Employees Participate in the Bank’s Annual Kokua Mai Campaign Donating a record $932,310 to Charity

$11.3 million contributed since 2007

Honolulu, December 1, 2022 - First Hawaiian Bank (FHB) today announced that bank employees and retirees kicked off the holiday giving season with their heartfelt donation of $932,310 to 38 charities in Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan as part of the bank’s annual Kokua Mai employee giving campaign.

Through the bank’s Kokua Mai giving program, employees contribute to causes and charities that are personally meaningful to them. Since the program’s inception in 2007, employees and retirees have donated over $11.3 million through Kokua Mai in support of thousands of people who receive assistance through non-profit organizations.

This year, employees added two new Kokua Mai agencies:

  • Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation
  • YWCA - Oahu

FHB employees remained committed to helping local non-profit agencies which struggled to keep up with community demands – particularly the needs of vulnerable kupuna and keiki as well as the growing number of hungry families and raised the bar from their collective give in 2021. This year, 99% of the bank’s employees made financial donations to Kokua Mai, which exceeded last year’s record-setting contribution by $22,085. In addition, 250 Leadership Givers stepped forward with contributions of $1,000 or more.

“Our employee and retiree contributions this year will go a long way in helping our Kokua Mai agencies assist those in our community struggling to make ends meet this holiday season and beyond,” said Bob Harrison, First Hawaiian Bank Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “With a 99 percent employee participation rate, I couldn’t be more pleased with the care that our entire organization brings to our customers and our community.”

The program is run completely by employees with the bank covering all program costs so that 100 percent of every employee contribution goes to their local charity of choice in the communities FHB serves. The program includes a variety of fun activities to encourage employees to support their favorite charities through baked goods, shave ice sales, and online auctions. This year, Kokua Mai ran from October 3 through October 31 and benefited the following organizations that focus on health, education, self-sufficiency and life-sustaining services:

  1. American Red Cross, Hawaii, Guam & Northern Mariana Islands Chapters
  2. Aloha Harvest
  3. Aloha United Way
  4. Ayuda Foundation
  5. Big Brothers, Big Sisters Hawaii
  6. Blood Bank of Hawaii
  7. Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii
  8. Catholic Charities Hawaii
  9. Child and Family Service
  10. Domestic Violence Action Center
  11. Easter Seals Hawaii
  12. Family Programs Hawaii
  13. Goodwill Industries of Hawaii, Inc.
  14. Hale Makua Health Services
  15. Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation
  16. Hawaii Foodbank
  17. Hawaii Island United Way
  18. Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation
  19. HUGS (Help, Understanding and Group Support)
  1. Imua Family Services
  2. Kama`aina Kids
  3. Kauai Hospice
  4. Kauai United Way
  5. Keiki Circles of Love Hawaii
  6. Lanai Community Association
  7. Make-A-Wish Hawaii
  8. Make-A-Wish Guam and Saipan
  9. Maui Foodbank
  10. Maui United Way
  11. Palama Settlement
  12. Partners in Development
  13. Pali Momi Women’s Center (Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment)
  14. Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation
  15. Salvation Army Hawaii (includes Guam and Saipan Corps)
  16. Special Olympics Hawaii, Inc.
  17. Teach for America
  18. Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center
  19. YWCA - Oahu

 

Other ways First Hawaiian Bank and its employees gave back to the community in 2022:

  • First Hawaiian Bank donated $250,000 to support the construction of Phase I of Pu'uhonua o Wai'anae (POW) Farm Village, a self-organized village of 250 people who live unhoused at the Wai'anae Boat Harbor. This single project will reduce unsheltered residents on O'ahu by more than 10 percent.
  • The First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, in partnership with Walter A. Dods Jr., First Hawaiian Bank’s former chairman, president and CEO, made a combined contribution of $500,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation to support the UH Mānoa RISE project, a world-class innovation and entrepreneurship center coupled with student housing being built on the site of the former Atherton YMCA, across from the flagship campus.
  • Caring is a core value at FHB and hundreds of employees demonstrate they care by serving on non-profit boards throughout the community and by volunteering their personal time on the weekends through the bank’s Community Care program, in which employees support non-profits through community activities like the Ala Wai Genki Ball project, and assisting families through the Maui Foodbank, HUGS and Special Olympics.