Gather Federal Credit Union awards $30,000 in Kauai scholarships

Gather Federal Credit Union put $30,000 back into Kauai’s graduating class, awarding $2,000 scholarships to 15 seniors from four high schools and tying the money directly to the next step after graduation. The scholarships, distributed June 17, help cover tuition, books, fees, supplies, room and board, costs that can decide whether a student leaves the island for school, stays closer to home, or takes a job instead of enrolling.

Kauai High School had the largest share of winners, with David Braman, Malie Miyazaki, Nicholas Gandeza, Noah Thielen, Samantha Tominaga and Lohgan Hanna among the recipients. Waimea High School honorees were Isabella Martinez, Swede Sandblom, Tyren Sasil, Camille Miguel and Brynn Lee Hirata. Kapaa High School was represented by Levi Solomon, Anucha Kawamura and Marc Binonwangan, and Island School’s recipient was Max Evslin.

The awards reflect a local pipeline that begins well before college. Gather says scholarship applicants must be credit union members for at least six months before the application deadline, plan to enroll full time in a two-year or four-year institution, and are chosen for academic merit, community service, their relationship with the credit union and financial need. The 2026 application deadline was March 15. Gather also says the scholarship money is paid directly to the school, a detail that matters for families balancing tuition with transportation, books and housing.

The scholarship list also pointed to several additional academic honors. Braman and Brynn Lee Hirata were named HMSA Kaimana Award recipients. Samantha Tominaga was one of three Grove Farm Scholar winners, and Swede Sandblom received the sole Kapaia Foundation scholarship, recognized for being inspired by the plantation-days lifestyle. Those distinctions add another layer to the awards, showing that several of Kauai’s seniors are headed into competitive academic and career tracks.

Behind the scholarship program stands an institution with deep county roots. Gather began in 1954, when 10 pineapple farmers pooled resources to buy equipment. Today, the credit union says it serves more than 38,000 members across Kauai and Niihau, with more than $750 million in assets and seven branches from the North Shore to the West Side, including locations in Lihue, Koloa, Kapaa, Eleele, Kilauea and Waimea. That scale gives the scholarship program unusual weight on Kauai: local money is not just leaving the island for higher education, it is cycling back into the same communities that raised these students in the first place.