Most of the 10 "Community Heroes" who will represent Hawaii in the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay next month have a long list of business accomplishments and volunteer work to their credit. Twelve-year-old Kourtney Swanson just has an attitude. A can-do attitude.
Swanson, who weighs 39 pounds and was born with spina bifida, will do her half-mile portion of the relay wearing two leg braces and using a crutch. But she will be able to hold the three-pound torch as high as anyone.
Hawaii's representatives will carry the flame in Los Angeles the first two days of the 84-day opening event for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. The relay will span 15,000 miles and travel through 42 states, beginning April 27 and concluding July 19 in Atlanta, when the games begin.
Community heroes were nominated via short essays that described outstanding volunteer work, community leadership, acts of generosity, extraordinary accomplishments, and whether they were a role model or mentor.
Swanson was nominated because she had a good attitude about life in spite of her handicap, and because of "her willingness to participate in everything at the Hickam Youth Center," said her mother, Crissy McDonald.
Kourtney didn't let the leg braces or crutch stop her from roller skating, biking or swimming, because McDonald and her husband taught her "never say you can't do something til you try," McDonald said.
Hopefully, her daughter's participation in the relay will inspire other handicapped people to rise above their limitations, and "will show the world you can overcome anything," McDonald added.
While Swanson sets a good example simply with her approach toward life, the rest of the Community Heroes make true the biblical adage: those who put themselves last shall be put first.
Jack Sullivan is an accountant by profession but is a self-described "coach of people." He is known as "Uncle Jack" to teen-agers and women in prison, people he has helped during the past 30 years as a lay Catholic minister. He's also reached out to people through coaching and organizing soccer teams in prison and out.
"I've carried the torch of love for Hawaii in my heart for a long time," Sullivan said. "Now I'm going to carry it out in front of me with pride in the relay. I can never repay what Hawaii's done for me."
Sullivan plans to wear a haku lei and also carry an American flag during the relay.
Brian Keaulana, a city and county lifeguard captain, said being given the honor of carrying the torch is "not an accomplishment for me but for our community. If I can set an example as a role model for the younger generation, that's my true torch."
Keaulana is impassioned about helping kids from the Waianae area, where he's from, become productive members of society but still stay close to their traditional roots, mainly the ocean.
"When you stay in the ocean, you stay out of trouble," he tells them.
A man who wears many hats, Keaulana meets with kids regularly on school career days to tell them not only what it's like to be a lifeguard, professional surfer, model, actor and stuntman, but to emphasize the importance of setting lifetime goals and remaining drug-free.
"I do it because it's the right thing to do... The kids are our future," he said.
He's also a member of the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association, which educates people on water safety and about the ocean.
Technical sergeant Jeff Egan, an airline service worker at Hickam Air Force Base, was "very excited and happy like a little kid -- like it was Christmas come early," when he was told of being chosen to run in the relay.
"It's an honor I can't believe. I'm very grateful," he said.
Egan and his wife, Darlyne, were named co-volunteers of the year in 1995 for contributing over 500 hours of work for United Cerebral Palsy. He has also worked on behalf of muscular dystrophy groups and has spent 11 years doing hospital work.
John Dwyer, an attorney active in the Friends of Foster Kids, the Children's Advocacy Center, the Girl Scouts and the Rotary Club of Honolulu, will be "handing off a torch that will be passed onto my brother on the other side of the country," in Pennsylvania, where his brother, Bob, was also chosen to be a torchbearer.
Dwyer said he can see how the relay joins people together across the nation, in the same way the Olympic Games are meant to bring people together for a peaceful purpose.
"This will be a lifetime memory for me and my family," he said.
Dwyer is active in so many civic groups because "I can see the good they're doing almost immediately," he said.
Sharon Weiner, owner and founder of a public relations agency, was "absolutely thrilled" when notified of the honor.
"It makes me feel like I'm one with the world," she said. "I just might walk instead of run to savor the moment," which will be witnessed by relatives in California.
"Volunteerism has always been a big part of my life," said Weiner, who has won many an award for service, including the national Silver Beaver award for youth advancement.
She is currently active in the Boy Scouts, the Japan-America Society, and the Aloha United Way, among other agencies. Volunteering gives her "a chance to give back to a community that's done a lot for me... it's a chance to thank people for their support."
Ron Hellstrom, executive vice president and CEO of Foodland Supermarkets, said he is "extremely excited and honored to help represent our state."
Involved with Easter Seals and the Aloha United Way for many years, he said, "I do this because it's the right thing to do, expecting no payback because the payback is from within."
Gregory Caputy, a plastic surgeon, was nominated for donating his services to children with birthmarks who could not afford surgery and to former gang members who wanted to remove their tatoos as part of their rehabilitation into society.
Caputy started a project called "Rainbow Child" a year ago in which he performs laser surgery, free of charge every year, on children with disfiguring marks
Although recognition by the Olympics is nice, "I don't take it all that personally," he said. "When I became a physician, I took an oath with my heart that I would provide service to people. If they can afford it, great; and if they can't, I will try to find a way to provide service anyway. Most of us physicians try to give and help people the best they can on a daily basis. When I'm carrying the torch, I'll be doing so for physicians and health professionals as a group."
Hawaii also will be represented by two other Community Hero torchbearers from Maui -- David Sakugawa and Spencer Shiraishi.