Booster group being proactive to save its favorite program

It takes money for University of Hawaii sports to survive and more money for them to thrive. Anyone who didn’t already know that has learned it recently.

How much is needed and the proper sources of that funding — and whether it is all worth it — are up for debate.

If enough of the general public shows its support through donations and actually buying tickets for games, then maybe you’ve got something.

But some folks who would like to help the school’s sports programs don’t contribute because they think they can’t donate a small amount. Or, they hesitate because they don’t know where their money would go. They’ve heard so many stories about misappropriation and waste that they’re afraid their contributions would be for naught.

Well, I’m not in the business of guaranteeing anything. But when Don Murphy and Kurt Osaki tell me every dollar raised in the grassroots effort they’re behind will go to help UH sports, Ibelieve them.

"It will all go to athletics, nowhere else," said Murphy, who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for UH football through the annual Pigskin Pigout at his restaurant.

He and Osaki have earned the equity — through their sweat and their time and their donations — to ask others to step up. Respectfully and politely, of course. That’s the only way I’ve known these guys to be.

The campaign is called "We Get ‘Em," and Osaki (the graphic designer who came up with the "H" logo, and many others) says the grass is growing very quickly. He doesn’t have numbers yet, but since Raymond Noh of Noh Foods (another generous UH sports supporter) announced the initiative last week on 1420 AM, promises of donations have been huge — amounts small and large, from private citizens and businesses.

Pledges don’t always materialize into actual contributions, so we’ll see. But isn’t UH at the point where every bit helps?

"Ijust want this to be an opportunity for everyone who wants to get involved to have a chance to get involved, no matter how much or how little it is," Murphy said.

The wegetemhawaii.com website now has a click-to-donate function where you can contribute at little as $1.

At Saturday’s game, a guy drove up in a Lexus and gave Osaki a hundred-dollar bill. JJ Dolan’s is giving UH, through "We Get ‘Em," a dollar for every pizza sold.

"We value the amount of the money, but more the number of people," Osaki said. "A lot of people are saying, ‘What can I do? I can’t give $3 million but Ican give $50."

Hopefully for UH some confidence — or at least hope — was restored in the fans with Saturday’s game against Washington and that will stimulate donations. There’s no shame in losing 17-16 to the 25th-ranked team in the country. People who didn’t see a lot of positives on both sides of the ball simply weren’t looking for them, because they were easy to see.

Unfortunately, Aloha Stadium didn’t help matters by being understaffed and unprepared for a crowd that was just a bit over two-thirds of its 50,000 capacity. There’s really no excuse for that when you know the opponent is a school like Washington that travels well and has a huge alumni base on Oahu.

Maybe "We Get ‘Em" can help rebuild the pride that had the fans engaged, and showing up to see the Rainbow Warriors — not just their big-name opponents.