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AMANDA DUPONT SERVICE AWARD We have a very significant award to present tonight. The Amanda DuPont Service Award was established by American Mothers Hawaii Chapter to honor the legacy of a great woman, Amanda Dupont, who, along with her husband, Holbrook DuPont, has extended her heart and hands to literally thousands of people in the world. From Hawaii to Spain, Colombia, Kansas and many other places, Amanda has sacrificed and given and worked hard to bring comfort, cheer and help to others. The Amanda DuPont Service Award is given to a woman who is an example of motherhood who has strengthened the moral and spiritual foundation of her home and family, and who has given outstanding service to her family and the community of Hawaii. It is with great pleasure tonight that I announce the 2010 recipient of the Amanda DuPont Service Award. …..ROBERTA SEARLE…and would her husband join her…Robert Searle. The Searles were married when Roberta was 19 years old and Robert was just a little older than that. They have been married for 43 years. They had 3 children. In the last 12 years, they have taken in 15 foster children who had been abused and/or neglected. They adopted 5 of those children who were, at the time they joined the family, 2 days old to 11 years old. Those children are now 5, 9, 11, 16, 22. They also have legal guardianship of a 14 year old boy whom they have raised for the past 5 years as one of their own…making 9 children in all. Since 2004, Roberta has been the chairman, a volunteer position, of the local school board of Ka Waihona O Ka Na’Awao, a public charter school in Waianae*. Her husband is also a volunteer on the board. Roberta’s board reconstructed the curriculum, finds funding sources, hires the principal, makes sure they meet all state guidelines and has an outstanding exemplary math coordinator they brought on board. Roberta and Robert are plumeria farmers and they work on their 2 acre farm in Waianae. They live in a home that used to be a barn. There are 2 other homes on the property. In one home they have the Victory Outreach program for recovering addicts and drug abusers who pay reduced rent for working on the farm. Most are from the OCCC prison ministering program. The Searles have loved these men and help them to clean up their lives. In the other home, they invited a single mother with 3 children to live there at a very reduced rent. This mother used to be homeless and lived in a bus. They also have another man who was homeless whom they took in and he helps water the plants and helps maintain the property. Roberta and her husband are mini church pastors for Hope Chapel Waianae. They minister to 12-15 people in their group and see that their spiritual and temporal needs are met. They have helped total strangers by paying their bills, buying them food and Robert, who is a good mechanic, has fix cars for many without charging them. Every Wednesday night they hold a Bible Study group at their home and minister to those who attend. Roberta and Robert volunteer for the Family Readiness Group for the Army National Guard. They teach classes on health, conflict resolution, Spirituality and the Soldier and other subjects to the returning troops who come back from deployments; they take care of the children while the parents are debriefed and adjust to being back home. They help the Army National Guard families whenever needed. ***Their daughter received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Army National Guard. Roberta is a talented decorator for weddings and special occasions. She makes wedding cakes, has sewn wedding gowns. She has a green thumb and whatever she plants grows. She plays the piano, ukulele and sings. Every night, they help their children with homework. They teach their children by giving them responsibilities, see that they work and that they are taught good values. DAUGHTER: Leilani Kerr: My mother has a heart like no other. There is literally nothing she wouldn't do for someone in need, no matter their background, and she points out the good in EVERYONE, even when we cannot see it. She believes in people who don't even believe in themselves and that has made a difference in the outcome of numerous lives that were headed down a very destructive road. Her faith in God is the driving force behind everything she does and it has led us (her children) to believe in that faith as well. She is so deserving of all the good things that life has to offer, but her only concern is of others and their well being. My most vivid memory of my mother is of her kneeling beside her bed every day to pray for all the people in her life. My mom...............she is truly the epitomy of the word "Mother". Whether she birthed you or not, you feel like you belong. Roberta believes that God comes first and whatever He blesses them with, they share. They believe it is more blessed to give than to receive. Roberta says, “the more you give, the more you have.” The recipient of the Amanda DuPont Service Award for 2010... |
