In Hawaii we learn self-sufficiency but also to help one another. We make do with less, but know innately about strength in numbers and the concept of “lokahi,” which loosely translates to things are better for all when everyone does their part, the aloha spirit version of synergy.

Kimberly Mikami Setvin speaks of “being blessed” despite challenges her son, Erik, and the other student-athletes at Molokai and Lanai high schools face. They’re much the same that she dealt with herself while representing the Friendly Isle in a faded Farmers uniform a generation ago.

I’ve never heard a neighbor island athlete complain about travel. Coaches, parents and administrators only do so after they’ve huli huli’d every chicken and washed each others’ cars twice a day for a month. Even among the most generous people in the world, fundraising has its limits and leaves as Setvin understates, “a little puka.”

So, thousands of dollars are being raised here on Oahu to help Molokai and Lanai sports teams deal with travel issues that force the small schools to try to compete after ferry and plane rides to away games on Maui. Maybe the travel sounds like fun, but it’s not. These odysseys often leave them exhausted and seasick before they even take the field … that is, if they even get to make the trip; cost overruns often force coaches to make painful decisions, leaving players home, even after the coaches empty their own pockets to help the kids.

This latest fundraising venture climaxes with this evening’s “Cheers For Molokai and Lanai,” with Don Murphy and Keith Amemiya of the Downtown Athletic Club Hawaii leading the way — as they did a few years ago with the Save Our Schools initiative. Tickets — $75 for food and drink at a block party fronting Murphy’s Bar & Grill — were still available late Tuesday.

A half-hour documentary fully describing the schools’ plight was even produced, and aired last weekend. It was financed by Duane Kurisu, another of the DACH founders.

Another shining example of leadership by those mentioned and others in “rallying the troops,” as Amemiya described it. What I love most is the lack of Oahu-centrism; those of us living here are often viewed — sometimes correctly — as arrogant city slickers. But folks got involved here and helped because it’s the right thing to do, the fair thing to do.

The long-term solution, however, should come from the state. Gov. Neil Abercrombie said recently it is back on solid financial footing. So the Legislature can prove it by restoring the DOE budget to what it was before the massive cuts of five years ago; that would include travel budgets for all public schools sports programs.

Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui made a splashy announcement introducing a state “Sports Initiative” a couple of months ago. Well, here’s a perfect issue for it to address and to which it should dedicate some resources.

While Molokai and Lanai are the most striking examples, this is a statewide public school issue. The private sector will continue to help, but lokahi includes the government.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.