A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE

Rainbow Warrior’s captain and MVP. “It changed his life.”

When Eleyne started at Campbell in the mid 1990s, “Stu-dents didn’t believe they could go to college,” she said. “They’d

say ‘college is for the other kids, not us.’” Back then, ten percent of Campbell students went to college; today, it’s sixty percent. Jon and Eleyne are quick to defl ect credit, pointing to the other teachers, principals, and counselors who challenge and motivate these kids. “There’s great stu� going on in these schools,” Jon said.

Setting up the fund at Ha-wai‘i Community Foundation was an easy decision for the Fias, ensuring more kids just like their students have a shot at college for years to come. “I didn’t know what a legacy donor was,” Jon laughed, refl ecting on their gift continuing on beyond their lifetime. “You don’t have to be Bill Gates to give. Something small can make a big di� erence.”

The Fia familyPictured left to right: Luke, Eleyne, Jon, and Raiden.

HAVE YOU RECEIVED OR GIVEN AN HCF SCHOLARSHIP? Tell us your story on Facebook or Twitter #wegiveandreceive.

You don’t have to be Bill Gates to give. Something small can make a big diff erence.”

Paying it forwardYour name doesn’t have to be Zuckerberg or Rockefeller to leave a legacy. When it comes to sending kids to college, Jon and Eleyne Fia are betting big on Hawai‘i’s future.

AB UT

Over 200 families like the

Fias have named HCF in their

estate plans to invest in the fu-ture of Hawai‘i and ensure that their charitable

legacy will live on.

DID Y OU K NOW ?

� PHILANTHROPY: IT’S ALL

U.S. Naval Academy and become a Navy Seal. “When you want to give up and walk away,” she said, “that’s when you know you have to help.”

Jon recalls the educators who motivated him to become the fi rst in his family to attend college, playing football to get there. Now he’s paying it for-ward. “Simple actions can have such a huge impact on some-one’s life,” he says, remember-ing the football player whose highlight tape he walked into UH’s coaching o� ce. “We con-vinced him to walk on, worked with him to get tutoring and get his scores up.” That young man graduated from UH as the

he Fias are a typical local family–hard workers raising their kids and planning for the

future. When they set up their trust, they fi rst took care of their kids then set aside funds to es-tablish scholarships at Waipahu and Campbell high schools. As public school educators – Jon at Waipahu and Eleyne at Camp-bell – they’ve seen the power of college. Eleyne remembers the angry boy who’d been taken from his parents. “I’d look at him and think, if I don’t help him, who will?” That young man went on to graduate from the

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