Creating a movement of mahalo

By Jeff Arnold, Chairman and CEO

July 19, 2018

One year ago, I blogged about the impact Oprah Winfrey’s inspirational words of purpose had on the audience at the Live Your Best Life event in Maui, which we hosted with our partner, Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association (HMSA). After she spoke, every person in the audience was filled with gratitude — or, as they say in Hawaii, “mahalo.”

As we embark on our next initiative with HMSA, we are keeping mahalo at the forefront. Together, we are funding a social giving campaign to donate up to $100,000 to each of the following five charities in Hawaii from now until November: Helping Hands Hawaii, Make-A-Wish® Hawaii, Special Olympics Hawaii, the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation and the Laulima Giving Program. This campaign also marks the kickoff of the Sharecare Movement in Hawaii, the goal of which is to encourage people to take steps to improve their health and ultimately enhance the overall well-being of people throughout Hawaii. And through our Sharecare app, we’re making it really simple not just to live healthier, but also to generate donations for these charities.

For every Hawaii resident that downloads the Sharecare app and completes our RealAge test, we will donate one dollar to each of the five benefitting charities. Also, when a Hawaii resident earns a “green day” in the Sharecare app, we will donate another dollar, which will be divided evenly among the five charities.

In addition to the more obvious reasons for giving back, research shows that the act of giving actually contributes to a person’s overall well-being, which underscores how essential supporting others can be to the health of a community. By empowering the people of Hawaii to give back to the organizations that support their local communities through this campaign, we hope we likewise help them live happier and healthier lives.