The 10th annual Monsignor Charles A. Kekumano Award and Scholarship Dinner, March 16, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom, gathered more than 600 guests and raised more than $180,000 for the school’s scholarship fund and future community center.
The event also honored Honolulu attorney and community volunteer Al Wong with the 2008 Noblesse Oblige Award for Service and announced Maryknoll junior Chasen St. Onge as this year’s Kekumano scholarship recipient.
Wong, of Takushi Wong Lee and Yee, was recognized for 40 years of volunteer leadership in organizations here and on the mainland. He is chairman of the Maryknoll school board and co-chairman of the capital campaign to build the Maryknoll School Community Center.
The Monsignor Charles A. Kekumano Scholarship is awarded annually to a returning Maryknoll student entering their junior or senior year who demonstrates excellence both inside and outside the classroom.
The faculty picked St. Onge to receive the scholarship because of his dedication to the school’s service-first motto. He is the student senate vice-president, a member of the junior varsity, volunteers for campus ministry and helps coach the Maryknoll girls’ intermediate basketball team. He is the son of Jean-Denis and Elsa May St. Onge of Kapolei.
The Msgr. Kekumano dinner has raised more than $1 million for scholarships over the past decade. Past recipients of the Noblesse Oblige Award are Dr. Livingston M.F. Wong, James H. Gahler, Irmgard Farden Aluli, Cha and Jack Thompson, Nina Kealiiwahamana, Dr. Jorge Camara, Gov. George Ariyoshi, Dr. Gabriel Wai Chiu Ma and Wally Yonamine.