Champions help to heal communities — Part 5
by Sharon Higa | Feb. 12, 2025
The HEI Charitable Foundation annually recognizes six outstanding employee volunteers with a $1,000 donation awarded to a nonprofit organization of their choice. The 2024 Kokua Community Service Champions are all leaders with a desire to serve and through giving back are helping bridge the gap so communities can heal and thrive. I’m pleased to introduce this year’s honorees and their selected nonprofits through a series of blogs dedicated to each individual champion.
Samantha Takamura, Property Accounting Systems Analyst, Hawaiian Electric — Maui County
Aside from exemplary volunteerism, the selection of a Kokua Community Service Champion is based on level of involvement and impact in the community, which our next champion Samantha “Sammy” Takamura has in spades. More so, Sammy’s volunteer work in the Maui community revived a 4-H program into a vibrant resource for potential youth leaders.
“I chose Wailuku Hongwanji Mission as the recipient of the HEICF donation because they continue to support its members and our community steadfastly and provide an example of what a leader can be,” said Sammy, a property accounting systems analyst at Hawaiian Electric’s Maui County operations. She joined the company in 2009 as an accountant and today is part of a team that tracks and analyzes the company’s capital property assets.
For the mother of two, Wailuku Hongwanji Mission is more than a place of religion, it provides a place for the community to gather, take part in each other’s lives and offer support for all ages. The Mission is a community church that offers programs open to the public including preschool, judo, a Japanese after-school program, kendo, karate, boy scouts, 4-H, obon festival and more.
Sammy has served on the Mission’s preschool board of directors and is involved in numerous volunteer activities involving her children.
“My daughter went to the preschool and maybe the toughest time and longest hours spent as a volunteer was during the covid years. My son also became a Pack 40 cub scout and is now a Tenderfoot with Troop 40.” Both children attend the Mission’s Dharma School (Sunday School) where Sammy serves as a substitute teacher, instilling the wisdom and compassion of Amida to younger generations.
A few years ago, Sammy initiated the process of reviving the relationship between the 4-H non-agricultural program and the Mission. The program provides children with the skills to be leaders in their community and meaningful members of society. After forming the first younger group of Cloverbuds, more groups were created due to Sammy’s diligence.
“2023 marked a new beginning for my daughter’s 4-H group,” said Sammy. “Although 4-H had a long history with the Mission dating back decades, it sort of fizzled out. But, with a few other leaders we now have four clubs affiliated with the Mission. That’s roughly 50 kids ranging from kindergarten to 6th grade.”
Most of Sammy’s volunteer work currently is for the 4-H as a co-leader of her daughter’s group and the President of the Mission’s Sakura Club, which encompasses the four 4-H club affiliates.
Through Sammy’s work with the program, she’s also become one of the leading forces behind boosting enrollment at Wailuku Hongwanji Mission among younger families in the Maui community. “I use ‘it’ and ‘they’ when talking about the Mission because as a symbol, the mission is singular in reference, but it really is made up of members that continue its legacy of compassion, mindfulness and community.”
In 2024, the Mission celebrated its 125th anniversary serving the Maui community.
Born and raised on Oʻahu, Samantha is a graduate of Kailua High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington. After a time living in the Evergreen State, Sammy and her husband returned to the islands and made their home on The Valley Isle where Sammy’s husband was born and raised.
Sharon Higa is a senior communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric.
