Servco Pacific will announce this month the 10 nonprofit organizations that will win two-year leases on new vehicles to expand their reach into the community, a company spokesman said.
The vehicle leases are part of a $1.5 million Centennial Service Campaign to
celebrate Servco’s 100th anniversary. Servco, which is in the top 20 of U.S. auto retail groups according to
Automotive News, is also one of the state’s largest companies.
A Servco spokesman said the idea for the charitable campaign arose while the company was looking for ways to celebrate its centennial while focusing on the community rather than just on the company.
“It’s more than just our customers and our employees,” the spokesman said. “It’s about our community.”
The vehicle donations that Servco will announce this month will be awarded to the nonprofits that best demonstrated how they would use the vehicle to expand their service. The application packets included a request for a Toyota pickup to rescue green sea turtles on Hawaii island and a Toyota van for eye screening services in rural areas.
The 10 leases will include at least one nonprofit winning on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big island.
Servco was founded by Japanese immigrant Peter Fukunaga, who bought
Haleiwa Garage for $1,500 in 1919. The company was later renamed Service Motor Co. because of Fukunaga’s zeal for serving his customers.
The company is now run by Fukunaga’s grandson Mark Fukunaga, and has expanded to include about 1,200 employees in Hawaii and more than 1,000 employees in Australia and
California. Servco has
$1.8 billion in annual revenues and has diversified to include car sharing, appliance sales and capital investments.
The company sells Toyota, Lexus, Subaru, Harley-
Davidson, Hui and General Electric and is also co-majority owner of the guitar company Fender.
This year’s $1.5 million in donations is on top of the roughly $500,000 the company donates annually through scholarships for business students and grants to nonprofits.
One initiative in the centennial campaign was $200,000 donated to start the Aloha United Way’s
Hawaii Social Impact Project. The project aims produce a curriculum to train nonprofits on addressing the root cause of limited income for Hawaii residents. According to the Aloha United Way, nearly 50% of the state’s households are below the poverty level or struggle with financial hardship, a status described by the United Way as ALICE for asset limited, income constrained, employed.
Servco also addressed the shrinking of school music program budgets by donating 2,000 ukuleles and
750 guitars to the Department of Education. The
donation was estimated to benefit 8,500 public and charter school students from elementary to high school.
Also this year, Servco donated $200,000 in stovetops, ovens and other kitchen appliances to public schools such as James Campbell High School for culinary programs. In addition, washers and dryers were donated to about 35 public schools for impoverished children who cannot wash their clothes
at home, in the hopes of
increasing their school performance.
In October, Servco awarded $20,000 to 19 nonprofits statewide that were nominated for the award by community members.
Servco will end its centennial campaign this month by announcing the final amount it will donate to Aloha United Way as part of a company fund drive. The company is donating $100 for every local employee who contributes to the drive, for a possible $120,000 donation to the United Way along with employees’ donations.
