He is no longer a child and would probably not like that title, however he is my child, and I am very proud of him. So on this day, permit a mother to give her son the spotlight. Yesterday morning we were invited to a breakfast, and this is what happened:

Red Cross honors West Hawaii volunteers
By Kim Eaton, West Hawaii Today

“Zach Say is active in sports, finishing his senior year at Hawaii Preparatory Academy and preparing for college. Yet, despite his hectic schedule, he still has time to devote to HPA’s Red Cross youth group.

It is because of Say’s dedication to the American Red Cross (ARC) the past three years that he was awarded the ARC’s West Hawaii Youth Volunteer of 2004.

"Volunteers are our back bone,” said Barney Sheffield, ARC’s disaster coordinator for Hawaii County. "The American Red Cross can’t function without them."

Say got involved with HPA’s Red Cross youth group about three years ago when a friend introduced him to the idea. Over the past year, Say has helped with the food booth fund-raiser for the Red Cross and the Thanksgiving food drive. He also chaired the Thelma Parker Library book drive at the beginning of the year and is a of the chairman for the upcoming CPR Sunday event. Say and last year’s Youth Volunteer of the Year, Ken Sogi, lead the youth group’s weekly meetings as well.

Say said he enjoys volunteering with the ARC. "It makes you feel good when you do a selfless act that helps someone else, even though you don’t see the immediate results," he said.”

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I must admit that my own volunteerism has taken a back seat since jumping into entrepreneurship and self-employment, and so I’m particularly proud of Zach for not following my example with his own actions. This actually started for him in his freshman year, when he volunteered to work the aid station for the IronMan Triathlon at the cycling turnaround point in Hawi.

This was quite the weekend for Zach, for he also made his college decision out of the acceptances he did receive: he’ll be attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, known for leading the Aerospace/ Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering category for schools without doctorate programs.

Looks like I’ll be visiting Arizona real soon … maybe I can offer my Managing with Aloha seminar for anyone there who is interested! Can anyone tell me which airport is closest to Prescott?

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