“To serve our community is important”: Mariota and First Hawaiian Bank donate to Campbell athletics
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Newly signed Philadelphia Eagle Marcus Mariota is back in the islands, but it’s anything but a vacation, He was at Campbell High School Friday to help donate $50,000 to their girls athletics programs.
The former Saint louis and Oregon Stand out was in Ewa Beach, partnering up with First Hawaiian Bank to award the Lady Sabers with the Donation.
Part of Mariota’s mission to give back the place that gave him so much.
“To be able to serve our community is important.” Marcus Mariota told reporters. “You know, it’s a blessing to be playing in the NFL, but it also creates a platform and I take that and I hold that in high regard and I do whatever I can to make sure that the next generation is set up to be even better, even better than I am.”
The donation was a part of First Hawaiian Bank’s 165th Anniversary, where they’ll be donating to various local organizations throughout the year — in total giving away $1.65 million.
“Partnering with Marcus, partnering with his foundation, partnering with a lot of other nonprofit funders in Hawaii.” FHB president Bob Harrison said. “We all need to come together and we don’t have to all do the same thing, but working together to get the outcome we want.”
For the Sabers and more importantly the athletes, this gift will further elevate their programs for years to come.
“We’re moving up and competing and I think this 50,000 will go a long way into helping them, you know, sustain that.” Campbell Athletics director Rory Pico said.
“I have someone that’s leading and allowing me to follow their footsteps and it’s like an inspiration, very thankful.” Campbell girls basketball player Aliyah Bantolina said.
For Marcus, his emphasis on supporting girls athletics is thanks to his newly appointed “girl dad” title — Mariota and his wife Kiyomi welcomed their first born Makaia Kei into the world in December.
“It’s so cool to be a girl dad.” Mariota said. “Like I said, it’s cool to be a part of this initiative with First Hawaiian Bank to empower women to be who they want to be and because that’s how I wanna raise my little girl.”
Mariota is set to head to Philly in the coming months to begin his stint with the Eagles, while First Hawaiian Bank will announce their next donation at a later date.
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