CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Frank DeLima is all smiles as he turns 53 this weekend.

Clowning with class

Frank DeLima celebrates his
20th year of bringing laughs
and wisdom to schools

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By Jason Genagabus
jason@starbulletin.com

Frank DeLima has a lot to celebrate when he turns 53 this weekend. Twenty-five years have passed and DeLima continues to perform regularly to the delight of tourists and kamaaina, currently headlining on Friday and Saturday nights at the Ohana Reef Towers' Palace Showroom.

In addition to steady nightclub work, DeLima sees this year's 20th anniversary of the Frank DeLima Student Enrichment Program as a significant milestone. To celebrate, he's inviting 200 people over to the Wisteria Restaurant from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a few laughs and a lunch buffet.

JUST FOUR YEARS ago, DeLima wasn't sure if his program would last. Facing a stretch of unemployment in 1998, he didn't know how to continue financing his visits to more than 150 of Hawaii's public and private schools each year.

"For 16 years of this program, I've had no worries about where the funding was coming from," said DeLima from his "office" -- a table in the Wisteria's dining room, part of the place he warmly refers to as a second home.

"Originally, it was about $38,000 a year" to bankroll his visits to the schools, which were funded entirely out of DeLima's entertainment earnings. When DeLima lost his gig at the Hula Hut four years ago, it seemed that Hawaii's elementary and intermediate schoolchildren would no longer get a visit from the comedian.

"That's what really depresses me, because I never thought it would come to this," says DeLima from across the table. While Chevron stepped in and assumed a major underwriter role four years ago, recent economic conditions have forced the company to cut back its involvement with the nonprofit organization.

Frank DeLima's 53rd Birthday and Fund-raiser Where: Wisteria Restuarant (on the corner of Piikoi and S. King) When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $25, includes buffet brunch and comedy show by DeLima; $15 of each ticket is tax-deductible; donations also accepted at the following address: Frank DeLima Student Enrichment Program, 2021-A Pauoa Road, Honolulu, HI 96815. Call: 591-9276

"We still need more money, so we do the golf tournament, and we're doing this birthday party here at the Wisteria, and the state is also helping now," he said. When Chevron announced its cutback in donations to his enrichment program, DeLima rallied state lawmakers and has since received funding to keep the school visits going.

That money is not necessarily guaranteed to be there again next year, a prospect that worries DeLima. "If the state pulls out, then there isn't enough. We're always out there looking (however). If we could have somebody that would guarantee us 10 years, that would be awesome.

"But I'm still totally concentrated on my part," he says, as the realization hits that the conversation is lingering more on money matters than DeLima would like. "And that's talking to the children."

When DeLima first spoke to kids about treating others with respect and studying hard, it was as a young entertainer visiting friends on Maui. "I was sitting there twiddling my thumbs because all my friends were working every day.

"The question came up: 'Do you want to play golf, so you can meet more people in the business world?'" he said.

DeLima decided that instead of hitting the links, he'd spend time with some elementary school children much like he did with San Francisco's Catholic Youth Organization in the early '70s. That experience encouraged the former seminary student to continue his school visits.

"I went, and it was a very successful day and I really enjoyed myself. And I thought to myself, this is probably what I'm supposed to do -- entertain, be popular -- but at the same time, deliver a message.

"There's fun involved; it's teaching with humor," he said. "Whether it will stick in their head, I have no idea."

Reading, studying, laughing and family are among the topics DeLima touches upon when he visits local classrooms. Starting in elementary school, he visits almost every public and private school in the state every other year. By DeLima's own estimates, "about 97 percent" of Hawaii's schools "say OK" to him coming in and talking to the students.

"The teachers like it, the kids like it," DeLima said. "It's not heavy. I'm not somebody to go over there and preach, nor to teach as far as the teachers are concerned. I'm just a person in the community that is popular, that would like to use my popularity to support the teachers, because they need all the support in the world.

"I want to make sure that the kids support the teachers, too," he said.

BUT IN ORDER to support the teachers, DeLima needs the community to support the fund-raisers his Student Enrichment Program hosts. DeLima plans a second fund-raiser at the Wisteria in September and a golf tournament.

The nonprofit organization also accepts public donations. With expenses reaching almost $70,000 each year, the comedian continues to search for people who share his desire to help Hawaii's schoolchildren.

"I guess it's in (my) genes, where (I) want to go out and help."

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