Category: News

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Aloha ʻOe Richard Endsley

On December 16, 2023 at 8:00 pm, family gathered to hold hands and sing Aloha ‘Oe and Hawai’i Aloha to Richard Eugene Endsley. At the same time, family and friends in Iceland, Georgia, Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii joined us in saying farewell. This collaboration was a tribute to a selfless, kind, generous, and loving man who we remember as a fighter for justice. Richard passed away the following day, December 17, 2023 after a prolonged battle with dementia. He is preceded in death by his son Benjamin and survived by his wife, Pat Shigeko Inouye Endsley, his son and daughter-in-law, Ted and Jamie Tanabe, and his two grandsons Zachary and Duke Tanabe.

Richard’s goal in life was to educate children so they could enjoy the “good life” as adults. In 2000, Richard and Pat founded the Lahaina Complex After School Tutor Project and established the Lahaina Complex Education Foundation. With the tremendous support of hundreds of organizations, parents, and volunteers, the Tutor Project was a success from 2000 to 2020, coming to an end during the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard never missed a tutoring session in math, social studies, or language arts. The Foundation continued to help the community through education-related grants until 2023. Richard was very proud of the impact he had on the Lahaina community.

Richard also contributed greatly to his community in Berkeley, California as a teacher and administrator in the Berkeley Unified School District for over 32 years. As a leader, he helped integrate the Berkeley schools, making history as the first city to voluntarily desegregate schools. After retiring to Lahaina, Hawaii, he continued to give back by serving on the Lahaina Restoration Foundation board and by volunteering his time and expertise to the Lahaina Town Action Committee.

Richard was born on April 2, 1929 in Hoquiam, Washington to Loren and Ruth Endsley. He had a brother, Loran, and two sisters, Lorine and Barbara. Richard was valedictorian of Hood River High School. He received a BA from Willamette University, a Masters in Economics from Stanford, and a lifetime teaching and administration credential from UC Berkeley. Richard served as a lieutenant in the Navy and was on active duty in Italy, Pearl Harbor, and Japan. In addition to his immediate family, Richard has many nieces and nephews on both sides of the Endsley and Inouye families, and we all have memories of his innumerable acts of kindness, generosity, and sharp wit with language. He will be missed, but the impact he had on the lives of so many people and organizations will always be remembered.

Richard believed strongly in uplifting the children of Lahaina in his many years of volunteer work with the Lahaina Complex Tutor Project.  If you would like to support work that continues to benefit the students of Lahaina, please consider a contribution to PFEE (People for Educational Equality).  Contributions can be made online at PFEE.org or mailed to People for Educational Equality at 1215 S Kihei Rd, Suite O PMB 333, Kihei, HI 96753.

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PFEE Sponsors Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund

PRESS RELEASE December 4, 2023 Lahaina, HI

People for Educational Equality becomes the fiscal sponsor for the Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund

Shortly after the devastating Lahaina fire, several real estate agents from the Aloha Group Maui team with Keller Williams Realty Maui set up a GoFundMe campaign, with the purpose of helping as many keiki (children) as possible, to get through the trauma of losing family, friends, homes and even their school. The program was named the Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund, and it is designed to distribute funds every month to 100+ children and their families through the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The group wants to provide the peace of mind that these children will not be forgotten, so that they may focus on their physical and emotional recovery and what they do best – just being kids! The group has tirelessly worked with schools, counselors and people they know to identify those children and families most in need and then verify each family in person.

So far, the program has raised over $23,000, and it has identified over 34 children whose parents or guardians have already started receiving monthly distributions. 17% of the recipients have lost an immediate family member or a close friend, 86% lost their home, 36% lost a vehicle or means of transportation, 42% lost their school. Many of the children come from generational families that lost everything: homes, cars, jobs. 

In order to expand the fundraising efforts, the group has now partnered with People for Educational Equality (PFEE), a Lahaina based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has supported and fundraised for the Lahaina Complex After School Tutoring Project for 15 years. Barbara Potts is one of the founders and also the president of PFEE, and along with her husband Lee, son Skip and daughter in law Jessica, has dedicated her volunteer efforts to create educational opportunities for Lahaina kids that attend public schools. When the tutoring program ended due to Covid restrictions, this nonprofit pivoted towards sponsoring and providing grants for science camps, drama camps and hula classes. The most recent educational event was the Book Give Away, hosted at the Outlets of Maui during Spring Break 2023, when over 80 children were given free books, school supplies and gift cards, and they were entertained by fellow kids and Tutu Cheryl reading stories to them. 

By becoming the fiscal sponsor for the Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund, PFEE will continue its mission of helping local children. 

A Facebook Group was created in order to share updates, stories of impact, and the outcomes of these collective efforts. If you would like to contribute, please visit the Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund or send a check to People for Educational Equality, 1215 S Kihei Rd, Suite O#333. Kihei, HI 96753.