American Savings Bank employees and family members assisted Hawaiinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge students to weed, plant and harvest taro at the Punaluu Loi.

The volunteer effort by the Community Development department and Windward region employees was part of the bank's Seeds of Service program, which encourages bank employees to volunteer throughout Oahu and the neighbor islands. Employees have volunteered more than 6,000 hours to local schools and nonprofit organizations.

Alexander & Baldwin Foundation pledged $50,000 to Child & Family Service toward its capital campaign to build a new Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing facility for domestic violence victims. It is scheduled to be completed next spring.

Matthew J.K. Patterson of Hilo, a Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard student trainee, is the University of Hawaii's 2008 Cooperative Education Program (Co-op) Engineering Student of the Year. The UH-Manoa senior works part time at the shipyard. Chad Kaanoi, an electrical engineer at the shipyard, was the UH Co-op Engineering Student of the Year and a national Co-op Student of the Year finalist.