AARP Hawai‘i seeks nominees for 2025 Andrus Award for Community Service

AARP Hawaiʻi is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Andrus Award for Community Service, which honors Hawai‘i volunteers 50 and older who are sharing their experience, talent and skills to enrich their communities.

The deadline to nominate an outstanding individual for AARP’s most prestigious volunteer award is Oct. 1, 2025. AARP Hawai‘i will donate $1,000 to the charity of the winner’s choice in their name.

“AARP Hawai‘i is excited to shine a light on volunteers who are using what they’ve learned in life to make a difference in the lives around them,” said Keali‘i Lopez, AARP Hawai‘i State director.

Honoka‘a residents Miles Okumura and Lynn Higashi were last year’s winners for their efforts to feed kūpuna and families through The Feeding Our Keiki and Kupuna program at the Honoka‘a Hongwanji.

Nominations will be evaluated based on how the volunteer’s work has improved the community, reflected AARP’s vision and mission and inspired other volunteers.

AARP Hawai‘i Andrus Award for Community Service nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Nominee must be 50 or older.
• Service must be volunteer-based (small stipends allowed).
• Work must align with AARP’s mission and inspire others.
• Partisan political work is not eligible.
• Previous award winners, AARP staff, and selection committee members are not eligible.
• The award is not given posthumously.

Additional details, as well as an online nomination form, can be found at www.aarp.org/AndrusAward. For more information contact AARP Hawai‘i Outreach Director Jackie Boland at 808-545-6003 or email her at jboland@aarp.org.

The Andrus Award is named after AARP founder Ethel Percy Andrus, who believed, “It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.”