PHILANTHROPY:
It’s All AboutYOU Creating Change in Hawai‘i Nei
It seems Dr. David McEwan has always had the ability to see what could be and the determination to make it so. When he was only eight years old, McEwan knew he wanted to be a physician. His goal was reached and he eventually moved to Honolulu and began his practice of family medicine. It wasn’t long before his life’s work started
David McEwan, M.D.
to mirror that of his spiritual guide. “Father Damien’s commitment to help an ostracized group of people
also started working to create the Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation, which eight years later now hosts an LGBT Center in Waik-lk-l that supports long-term projects involving scholarships, youth homelessness, and assisted living for elders.
Dr. McEwan with Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation board members
with a disease that was not understood has always served as an inspiration to me,” noted McEwan, who, in 1980, had patients with early symptoms of the HIV infection. Feeling he needed to be proactive and stand up for the unempowered, Dr. McEwan cofounded Hawai‘i’s first AIDS organization, The Life Foundation, in the 80s; he spent the next 10 years volunteering tirelessly and has never stopped since. In the 90s, he immersed himself in advocating for
same sex marriage—a battle that was finally won when it was legalized in Hawai‘i on December 2, 2013. McEwan
“Hawai‘i Community Foundation amplifies my ability to help people.” Dr. David McEwan
> Did you know: In recognition of LGBT Pride Month in June, Hawai‘i Community Foundation and Hawai‘i LGBT Foundation are partnering to celebrate philanthropy in the LGBT community.
L e a r n h o w i t ’s a bout you at H awaiiC ommunityFoundation. org
McEwan’s motivation to help previously “unacceptable” causes brought him to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) where, he said, “I can amplify my ability to help people.” From the Donor Advised Fund he set up at HCF, he gives to a range of LGBT nonprofits without having to deal with the paperwork. “HCF is a bureaucracy-free experience!” Now retired after 43 years of practicing medicine, David McEwan is as busy as ever, rallying others to create change: “At a moment in time when great progress has been born out of great suffering, there is still a lot to do.”