Love to give

by Donica Kaneshiro | Sept. 7, 2022

Raising four children would be all-consuming for many parents, but not Nani and Rodney Miyashiro, who have opened their home to foster children ranging in age from newborns to teenagers over the last 12 years.

They currently have one 3-year-old girl living with them, though a couple of months ago they were caring for three foster children, in addition to their four biological children.

“We have a house. We have the love to give. We can support other children, financially,” Nani said. “Our purpose, I guess you could say, is just because we can.”

They have first-hand experience seeing the difference Hawaii Island United Way’s programs and nonprofit partner agencies can make in the lives of children in need.

“A lot of the children that come through us receive a lot of support through the partner agencies of Hawaii Island United Way,” she said. “It’s just good knowing that they have additional resources available to them, especially with the hardships that they’ve had growing up.”

Nani has supported HIUW in the annual pledge drive since joining our company as a corporate recruiter about six years ago, while her husband, Rodney, a lineman, has been giving since he started about 14 years ago.

“It’s kind of nice to see the support that we provide to Hawaii Island United Way will then in return help the children, so they receive things around Christmas time,” she said. “We had children who were with us playing sports. They would sponsor them, get them all their sports gear, pay their registration fees.”

Nani is no stranger to the needs of struggling families. Before working at Hawaiian Electric, she worked and volunteered for several nonprofits providing mental health services and aid for the homeless and those on the brink of losing their housing.

“A lot of our working families are one paycheck away from being homeless,” she said. “One thing will happen — somebody gets sick or injured — and they cannot continue to work, or maybe they’re self-employed. You see it all too often.”

Nani chooses to support HIUW because of the broad outreach of their programs.

She appreciates that many of the grants provided through HIUW’s programs and their nonprofit partners don’t have strict income thresholds, but are there for those who just need a little help to get them through difficult circumstances.

“A lot of times for people to get funding, you would have to hit that poverty level, that low-income level,” she said. “Sometimes you may have assets, but something happened in that moment in time that you just need that help, just to sustain, so you don’t get into poverty level. It’s a little bit more inclusive to the population that they help and they serve.”

The pandemic put a lot more people in circumstances where working families required a helping hand to stay afloat.

“With COVID, there’s different needs out there, something shifted,” Nani said. “Some people cannot access work because they have underlying health conditions. I think the need is more than ever. Yes, we always hear that every year, right? But now more than ever we need to give and help support and provide the aloha to our community.”

One of those groups being supported is the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island.

“I used to go to Boys & Girls Club many years ago,” she said. Nani is excited to see the efforts the nonprofit has made in recent years to expand the program into more neighborhoods across Hawaii Island.

“We’re one ohana throughout the islands. And sometimes you cannot spare your time by doing volunteer events, but if you can spare just a little bit, you really don’t see it going out of your paycheck, but it really does help families.”

Donica Kaneshiro is a communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.