Star-Bulletin file photo
When two hikers were missing in August, the Visitor
Aloha Society arranged free lodging for the women's
families. Darrell Large greeted them at the airport.

Visitor Aloha
Society’s founder
is moving on

Darrell Large plans to put
his good will to work on
an international scale

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

For the past four years, Darrell Large has taught Hawaii tourists victimized by crime about the aloha spirit. Now he hopes to take aloha international.

Large started the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii in 1996 when he realized there was no other organization to follow up on people who were robbed or injured during their vacations. Visitor Aloha Society, once a one-man show on Oahu, has since expanded to a statewide organization with legislative support. Its mission is to make sure that tourists with no local support system have food, clothing and a place to stay.

"I've seen visitors -- some of them in tears over the fact that people in Hawaii care -- who turn their attitude about Hawaii around,"he said.

Star-Bulletin file photo
In January, Large accompanied an English woman
who returned to scatter her husband's ashes off
Waikiki. The Society had given the couple a new
vacation after a crime spoiled their 1997 trip.

The people his organization assisted in 1999 included victims from the Sacred Falls landslide, the families of the two Danish women lost while hiking in Windward Oahu, and recently, Charles O'Neal, the Oregon State University football player who was stabbed after the Oahu Bowl game.

But now it's time for Large to hand over control of daily operations. "We reached a plateau where I feel that VASH is well established now," he explained. And while he believes the organization is only starting to realize its potential, he decided it was time to turn his attention outside of Oahu. He will be offering assistance at Visitor Aloha Society offices on the neighbor islands, as well as examining possibilities for similar organizations outside of Hawaii.

Large officially resigned as executive director of Visitor Aloha Society on Dec. 1, and his resignation went into effect on New Year's Day. A search committee will seek his replacement.

Although personal experience wasn't the inspiration behind his organization, Large knew something about being a victim himself. Six years ago, while he and his wife were watching their granddaughter play ball at McKinley High School, their home was broken into and robbed of all the jewelry they had accumulated since they were teen-agers, right down to a 4-H club necklace, he said.

The following year, while his wife was in the hospital, thieves broke into her car and stole her bag, which contained a wallet and clothing. "It certainly gave me an appreciation of why one feels so violated," Large said.

Tim Haverly, a volunteer coordinator who stepped into Large's shoes when he was out of town, said of Large: "He has defined visitor assistance for Hawaii in the truest sense and was there for both crime victims and other victims of adversity to include medical emergencies, truly at the drop of the hat."

Now that he has stepped down as executive director, Large has time to respond to people from around the world who have told him they need an organization like the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii in their communities.

He and some associates are exploring the feasibility of starting a nonprofit organization, Visitor Aloha International, to offer consulting services in tourist destinations such as San Francisco.

"I really believe that aloha could become Hawaii's number one export. We don't have a large agriculture or other industries, but we do have aloha," Large said.

The concept of caring for others and insuring travelers the right of safe passage is not a new one, and in fact was the message of King Kamehameha I's Law of the Splintered Paddle, he added.

Retirement will also give Large time to focus his attention elsewhere. "There are things that I need to give attention to that I haven't been able to," he said. While putting in long hours seven days a week, Large neglected personal and business matters. "I got caught up in this thing," he said. Now he plans to spend more time with his family.

Large gave true meaning to "24-7," Haverly said. "Very clearly he is to VASH what the colonel is to Kentucky Fried Chicken, or the other colonel was to Elvis. He put his heart and soul into the organization, easily put in 60 hours a week, week after week, and literally did work morning, noon and night."

But Large won't be abandoning local Visitor Aloha Society efforts, where he's looking forward to serving as a volunteer. "VASH will always be in my heart," he said.

And the organization is counting on it. "We will continue to rely on him for lots of support and advice," Haverly said.