A heart for service
In Hawaii we talk a lot about how we lose our homegrown talent to the Mainland. People call it the “brain drain,” driven by our high cost of living and opportunities elsewhere.
But every so often we’re lucky enough to not only keep our homegrown talent but watch them give back to the communities they came from.
Eddie Espiritu and Craig Murakami are those kinds of people — 1971 Lahainaluna High School graduates who now help run the Lahainaluna Boarders’ Association and this year brought back the agricultural program that teaches boarders how to grow their own produce.
Tyson Valle is another local grad who came back to give back. The 2001 King Kekaulike High School alum coached the football team of his alma mater to their second state championship in school history and also runs a nonprofit developing young student-athletes for the field and the future.
They’re among this year’s 2022 People Who Made a Difference winners, a Maui News tradition that dates back to 1994 and has gone from naming newsmakers who made a difference, good and bad, to an annual feature spotlighting the good deeds of people in the Maui County community. Nominees are submitted by readers and voted on by our staff, and every year we enjoy seeing the people whose good deeds are getting noticed.
People like Peter Kafka, who’s used his own experience battling cancer to lead out support groups guiding other men through their own cancer treatment journey.
People like Tara Owens and Wes Crile, who are working behind the scenes to track and tackle the growing problem of coastal erosion and sea level rise.
People like Debbie Cabebe (who grew up on Oahu, another example of homegrown talent), who heads the nonprofit Maui Economic Opportunity that expanded its Youth Services program to Molokai this year.
They are just a few of the countless people who are making Maui County a better place, serving as a great reminder to not only thank the difference-makers in our own lives, but to see how we can emulate the spirit they carry every day.
Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.