Coming together to support our 26th Aloha United Way Golf Tournament

In 2024, I attended my first ever Hawaiian Electric event, the Aloha United Way (AUW) Golf Tournament. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it would become one of the events I look forward to attending each year.

Our annual AUW golf tournament is one of our biggest fundraising events of the year. The event brings our employees, retirees, friends, families, and other organizations together to support United Way’s efforts to provide vital resources for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Every year, a different department is responsible for organizing our United Way workplace campaign and the AUW golf tournament is just one of many fundraising events. This year our electrification of transportation (EoT), enterprise operations services, and regional system operations teams oversee the campaign. Although a different team spearheads our AUW golf tournament each year, the spirit of teamwork and volunteerism stays the same year after year.

This past Kamehameha Day, I attended our 26th annual AUW golf tournament at the Hawaii Prince Golf Club in Ewa Beach. Throughout the day, I drove around the golf course with Alyssa Okamura, one of our digital communications and social media specialists, to capture photos and videos of the event. During this time, we were able to introduce ourselves and talk story with over 140 golfers. One of my favorite parts of the day was meeting our retirees and hearing about their experiences with the company. This year, we met retirees from our system operations and transmission and distribution teams. Since I am still fairly new to the company, it was nice to meet and learn more about the people who helped shape the company to where it is today.

One of the things that makes this event special is the dedication from our employees and partner volunteers. We have volunteers who have been a part of this event for several years, including Kit Ma from Carlson Sales Hawaii, who has been volunteering at our golf tournament for over 15 years. Each year, Kit and our employee volunteers such as Cheryl Bain, an engineering clerk, and Levita Wulur, a work management specialist, serve shave ice to the participating teams to help them stay cool and hydrated. The shave ice booth has become a tradition that our golfers look forward to each year, and I must admit, I do too.

Although my role in the tournament is a small one, I’m grateful for the opportunity to help capture all the smiles, hard work, and memories from this event. Through the lens of my camera, it was truly heartwarming to see all my colleagues coming together on their day off to support a great cause!

This event always reminds me that, at Hawaiian Electric, giving back to the community is not just one of our core values — it’s a part of who we are and I’m glad to be part of a company that continues to support our community.

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check out our video recap of this event.