State Sen. Lorraine Inouye will receive the Rose Award of Excellence from the Zonta Club of Hilo at a dinner in her honor on Monday, March 11.
The event begins at 5 p.m. at Hilo Hawaiian’s Moku‘ola Ballroom with a no-host cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and the awards program.
“It’s difficult to list only a few things Senator Inouye has accomplished that drew us to her for the Rose Award,” said Julie Tulang, Zonta Club of Hilo president, in a press release. “For years, she has successfully fought for funding and programs that benefit Hilo and our island.”
Inouye has been a dedicated public servant on Hawaii Island since the 1980s. Currently, she represents District 1, Hilo, serving as senate majority whip and chairing the Water and Land Committee. She began her political career on the Hawaii County Council, and in 1990, she was elected mayor of Hawaii County, the first Filipino-American woman to serve in the role.
The senator was born and raised on a plantation in Wainaku, worked in the hospitality industry before entering politics, and continues to be involved in agriculture through the Aloha Blooms Inc. farm she owns with her husband, Vern.
“We are particularly pleased to honor Senator Inouye because her mother-in-law, Lily Inouye, was a vibrant member and leader of Zonta until her death in 2016,” Tulang said.
The award dinner also is a fundraiser for the Zonta Club of Hilo and will help support scholarships for young women, programs on confidence building for middle school girls, women’s and girls’ advocacy, and Pay-it-Forward micro-grants to local women-owned businesses.
Tickets are $125 per person ($50 of which is tax deductible). Reserved tables of eight are available for $1,250 (mahogany sponsors) and $1,500 (gold sponsors, VIP seating).
Tickets and tables are available online at tinyurl.com/2024RoseAward. More information also can be found there.
Checks can be sent to Zonta Club of Hilo Foundation, P.O. Box 1915, Hilo, HI 96721.
Zonta Club of Hilo is a member of Zonta International, whose mission is to build a better world for women and girls. For more information, visit www.zontahilo.org or email info@zontahilo.org.