WAILUKU - Seventy-eight-year-old Jim Crowe and 66-year-old Adele Rugg have been named Outstanding Older Americans for Maui County for their history of volunteerism and support of local nonprofit organizations and people in need.
In recognizing the two Mauians, Mayor Alan Arakawa said, "There probably isn't an organization that they haven't volunteered, mentored or fundraised for out there. They have served the community in almost every way that you can serve."
Both seniors were awarded certificates and engraved koa-wood clocks at a May 4 ceremony at Maui Tropical Plantation and were honored May 13 with Outstanding Older Americans from the other islands at an event attended by Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz on Oahu.
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Jim Crowe, 78, and Adele Rugg, 66, were selected as Maui County’s Outstanding Older Americans.
Crowe's resume of community service included co-founding the Students Staying Straight anti-drug program, mentoring parolees through the Maui Economic Opportunity reintegration program, ministering at St. Rita's Church, and serving as a board member of the Kula Community Association and as a member of AARP and the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Children and Youth.
In 1999, Crowe received the Ola Pono award for his contributions to creating safe communities and a healthy drug-free lifestyle for youth.
The woman who nominated Rugg, Patricia Ross, was all alone fighting chronic illness until she met this year's Outstanding Older American through the Na Hoaloha - Neighbors Helping Neighbors program. Rugg helped Ross through a difficult patch, and they are now friends, having recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise.
The Maui County Committee on the Status of Women selected Rugg as a woman who made a difference last year.
She has been president of the Kiwanis Club of Maui, represented Maui County on the Alzheimer's Association state board, and offered support and paddled for breast cancer survivors in the American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery Program.
