Kauai Federal Credit Union awards $10,000 in college scholarships to five students

Five Kauai students walked out of Kalukalu at 1624 on Friday with more than applause. Kauai Federal Credit Union handed each one a $2,000 scholarship, turning a $10,000 award into a bet on the island’s next generation of nurses, scientists, policy thinkers and business leaders.

The recipients were Anucha Kawamura, Sage Keller, Helena Hazelton, Taylee Yoshimoto and Piko Vaughn. They were greeted with surprise lei from a judge on the selection committee and congratulations from Sean Kaley, the credit union’s president and CEO, along with board members and staff. For families gathered at the Kapaa site, the moment marked a tangible lift as college plans moved from aspiration to enrollment.

The students’ paths point to the kind of workforce Kauai often struggles to keep close to home. Kawamura, a recent Kapaa High School graduate with Early College honors, plans to study environmental studies with a business minor at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Keller, already at Middlebury College, is focused on environmental policy and history. Hazelton, an Island School graduate, is headed to the University of San Diego to study neuroscience, while Vaughn, also from Island School, plans environmental science and marine biology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Yoshimoto, a recent Kauai High School graduate, is headed to the University of Hawaii at Hilo for nursing.

Those choices matter on an island where health care staffing, environmental stewardship and locally grounded business skills all affect daily life. A nursing student like Yoshimoto could eventually feed into the county’s health system. Kawamura’s blend of environmental studies and business suggests a future in land use, small enterprise or sustainability work. Vaughn and Keller are pursuing fields that speak directly to water, ocean and policy questions that shape the county’s economy and quality of life.

The setting reinforced that message. Kalukalu at 1624, at 4-1624 Kuhio Highway, is Kauai FCU’s economic resilience center and gathering place for financial, cultural and well-being needs. The credit union bought the former Otsuka Furniture store in October 2022 and later converted it into a space intended to support affordable housing, small-business innovation, climate-change mitigation and nonprofit capacity building. Kauai FCU says the Kalukalu name refers to a native Hawaiian grass tied to caring for āina and people.

The scholarship program is part of a broader effort through the Kauai FCU Foundation, which supports education and scholarships, community resilience, economic empowerment and sustainability, including āina stewardship. In 2025, the credit union said it received nearly 50 scholarship applications for five $2,000 awards, underscoring the level of demand for help. This year’s awards again showed that investing locally can do more than pay tuition. It can help keep the island’s future connected to Kauai.