Olson Trust gifts $200K for UH Hilo ag, forestry scholarships
The gift from the trust of one of the largest private landowners in the state creates the Edmund C. Olson Trust No. 2 Scholarship for two years, with preference for students from Kaʻū District on Hawaiʻi Island.
More young people will be able to train for careers in agriculture, thanks to a $200,000 gift from the Edmund C. Olson Trust No. 2 to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management.
The gift from the trust of one of the largest private landowners in the state creates the Edmund C. Olson Trust II Scholarship for two years, with a preference for students from the Kaʻū District on Hawaiʻi Island. Founder and trustee Edmund C. Olson is one of Hawaiʻi’s 20 largest private landowners by acreage with 17,000 acres on Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu.
Olson’s investment in Hawaiʻi Island’s agriculture community is a commitment to sustainability, says UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin.
“Ed Olson’s confidence in Hawaiʻi’s next generation of agriculturists will have a direct impact on Hawaiʻi Island’s sustainable future,” says Irwin. “We’re grateful for his foresight and commitment to the island.”
Kassey Hanoa and Keya Davies are the first two student recipients.
Hanoa is a senior at UH Hilo majoring in animal science with a focus on livestock whose family has a small working livestock farm in the Kaʻū community of Pāhala.
“I still don’t have my future completely planned, but this scholarship opened many doors for me,” Hanoa says. “I just thank God for putting me on the right path to have received this scholarship and Mr. Olson for this wonderful opportunity.”
Davies, who grew up riding horses in Kaʻū, is also studying animal science, with an equine certificate, on the pre-veterinary medicine track at UH Hilo.
“I have a huge passion for horses and want to work with them in my future,” she says. “I feel so thankful to have received this scholarship and am excited to finish off my degree and go off into the world!”
Read full story at the UH Foundation website.
