Big Promise of Little Things
A Life’s Passion, a Tapestry of Gifts to Future Generations ELLEN HAMADA SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR FASHION DESIGN & SEWING
Ellen Hamada didn’t think of it as leaving a legacy. For decades, she followed her passion and made a living at it, founding the Fashion Change Comes Center of Honolulu and teaching From Everyone generations the art of meticulously designed and hand-sewn fashion. But when she put her will together, she quietly “She was such worked with her an inspiration. ����������������� I want to give back, to leave her life just like she did.” insurance policy to the Hawai‘i -KAMALANI PICO Community Foundation Scholarship Recipient to establish a scholarship fund for students pursuing a career in fashion and design. “She worried that sewing was a dying art,” says her grandniece Kim Asato, and she wanted to do something to keep it alive and share her passion with future generations. As Hamada got older, her eyesight
prevented her from navigating a needle and thread with the same precision she’d wielded in her youth. But that didn’t stop her.
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Asato recalls how Hamada believed it was her duty to pass on her knowledge, working with students at her design center even when they ����������������������������������� couldn’t pay, she’d say ‘That’s okay. ������������������������������������ She found a way then, and continues ����������������������������������� ����������������������������������� of 91, her plans to keep the art alive were realized with the Ellen Hamada Scholarship Fund for Fashion Design & Sewing. Now, students, like Moloka‘inative Kamalani Pico, are studying fashion and planning clothing lines with their own vision. “She was such an inspiration,” Pico says. “Now I want to give back, just like she did.”
of philanthropy — just great dreams. The Hawai‘i Community Foundation serves countless communities across Hawai‘i — from our keiki to our kupuna, our environment to One hard-working woman with a vision is still sharing her art, simply because she had an idea — one little thing — that today delivers big promises to future designers and fashion icons. The big promise of little things, one stitch at a time — that’s the power of philanthropy.
our schools — through the generosity of everyday people just like Ellen Hamada. That’s the big promise of little things. To Le ave a Le gacy, V isit: HawaiiCommu n ityFou n dation .org/Legacy