Good works grace our communities

Many people in Hawaii are heroes in the shadows. They are not familiar to the general population, but their passion is well known to those in their energetic orbit. As we start a new year today, it’s all about renewal — of body, spirit and mind. It’s also about best intentions to make our world and community a better place to live.

Much inspiration for such good intentions was found in recent profiles of the Star-Advertiser’s 2012 Heroes Next Door: Six people nominated by friends or neighbors who stood out for their positive deeds and attitudes. Working selflessly and without fanfare for those in need, they embody that simple yet special touch that can transform the ordinary into extraordinary.

» Linda Fujikawa is an assistant professor of Japanese language at Kapiolani Community College, but she also conveys culture and history alongside the mastering of grammar and inflections. Fujikawa, 58, helped found the International Service Learning Program at KCC in 1998 and encourages students to "do service and learn from it." The program, better known as "International Cafe," helps local and foreign students gain insight about one another’s cultures, their similarities and differences. Her motto: "A weaving of humanity."

» Laurel Stricklin is a nurse at Hospice Hawaii, where she cares every day for terminally ill patients. Upon arriving in Hawaii two years ago, Stricklin, 31, and husband Beau, 35, posted an ad on Craigslist to fulfill Christmas wishes for needy families and were surprised by about 30 families who responded. Their email "just got so full of the saddest stories," Stricklin said. "I just couldn’t turn them down." The couple fulfilled each holiday wish received, including purchasing a king-size bed for a family with three boys. She got her church involved when she became overwhelmed by the growing list.

» Garrett K. Kuwada, an Air Force senior master sergeant, found time from his job as superintendent of Air Force postal operations in the Pacific to help others. He helps raise money supporting military families as vice president of Friends of the Hickam Airmen and Family Readiness Council and is involved with AccesSurf volunteers helping people with disabilities learn how to surf. Kuwada, 42, returned to his wife and sons in Makakilo from a 15-month deployment in Turkey last year. He finds time to coach his sons’ sports teams.

» Norman J. Minehira retired after decades as teacher and principal of Leilehua High School, but at 62, says LHS also stands for Leadership, Humility, Service. Nowadays, he not only delivers Meals on Wheels from Pearl City Nursing Home and chats with his "customers," but volunteers with Hospice Hawaii and engages in random and anonymous acts of kindness, such as paying for prescriptions of seniors deciding which drugs they can afford for the week.

» Victor Messier became a handyman upon arrival on Hawaii island from Canada because he needed a job. At age 72, Messier now makes his skills available weekly — or anytime needed — to the Aloha Medical Mission at Palama Settlement, Hawaii’s only free dental clinic for 120 patients a month who lack insurance or other means to pay. A former faculty member at the University of New Hampshire and part-timer at the University of Hawaii, Messier’s field was human development, so this turned out to be a nice fit. "It’s the company of the good," he said of Aloha Medical Mission.

» Landa Phelan of Hawaii Kai lost her eyesight 17 years ago from a chronic disease that affects the retinas. Shocked and afraid, Phelan became aware of discrimination suffered by blind and disabled people and became active in advocacy of their rights. She sits on Sen. Suzanne Chun-Oakland’s Deaf/Blind Task Force Council and is active in other organizations for the blind and disabled. "It’s the right thing for me to do," she says. "I don’t know why I went and lost my sight, but there’s a saying, God has a plan, and now I understand."