Company Donates Instruments to Schools

Students, parents and teachers unload musical instruments donated by Servco to 55 schools across Hawai‘i. PC: Servco

Servco Pacific, a co-majority owner of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, continued its $1.5 million Centennial Service Campaign with a donation of musical instruments and services valued at nearly $500,000 to 55 public schools across Hawai‘i.

The donation of 2,000 Fender ukuleles, 750 Fender acoustic guitars, soft cases and one-year subscriptions to Fender Play will benefit over 8,500 local elementary through high school students, a company release said.

“Music education is crucial for the creative engagement of our haumana, which positively impacts learning across content areas,” said Dr. Christina Kishimoto, superintendent of the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE). “Mahalo to Servco for their generous donation that will help to provide students with an outlet for artistic expression. Now, even more, current and future students will be able to explore and pursue their passion or curiosity for music.”

Earlier in the year, Servco worked with HIDOE to invite all public and charter schools to apply to receive musical instruments, with the primary requirement that the schools designate a teacher to implement and sustain a music curriculum during or after school. Servco and the Fender Play Foundation fulfilled 100% of the requests that were received.

Ukulele and acoustic guitar donations by island:

• Kauai: 110 ukuleles & 37 guitars
• Oahu: 1,079 ukuleles & 362 guitars
• Maui: 140 ukuleles & 41 guitars
• Molokai: 190 ukuleles and 90 guitars
• Hawaii Island: 481 ukuleles & 220 guitars

Servco Pacific and the Fender Play Foundation launched the musical instrument donation program on O‘ahu with a series of surprise concerts from Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning music duo Ben & Maila at three schools—Nanakuli Elementary, Campbell High School and Farrington High School.

“It was incredible to see the excitement on the students’ faces,” said Lisa Higa, principal at Nanakuli Elementary. “What a great way to start the new school year—with brand new instruments and music resources.”

Servco took co-majority ownership in Fender back in 2012 and has a long history of being in the musical instrument business, dating back to its previous ownership of the Easy Music Center. The $500,000 musical instrument donation is part of Servco’s $1.5 million giving campaign to celebrate its 100th anniversary. For more information on Servco’s centennial celebrations, visit www.servco.com/100.