Polynesian Football Hall of Fame partners with Microsoft to donate new laptops to local high schools

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in partnership with Microsoft donated 30 surface tablets to three local high schools Friday morning.

Members of the hall of fame were out at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to present the new laptops to representatives from Campbell, Nanakuli and Kahuku as a way to give back to communities off of the gridiron.

“The Polynesian Hall of Fame is geared towards football players using this game as an avenue to get a degree, but not everybody is a football player, so it’s a way of us reaching a student that’s a non-athlete that doesn’t have access to these tools,” said Jesse Sapolu, founder of the Polynesian Hall of Fame.

Each school received 10 of 30 Microsoft Surfaces.

“It’s just a blessing that everyone’s just giving back to the community and not just our small community but also back to the islands and public schools around,” said Chalei Reid, a student at Kahuku High School.

“We don’t really have that extra money, I guess you could say, that we can just buy a laptop, so the laptops that they’ve given us, just gives us more opportunities to learn,” said Kingsley Ah You, another Kahuku student.

For Microsoft, it’s about being able to reach out to communities through partnerships like these to help bring positive change with technology.

“The Polynesian community is extremely important to me as well, my Uncle Jack Thompson has been a beacon for me for respect, faith, family, discipline and love,” said James Bernstrom, Microsoft head of sports marketing for NFL.

“It’s amazing how technology has helped me in life, and so I love it when the mayor said even one thing could create some real positive change. So that’s important to be a part of.”

The 2022 Polynesian Bowl is set to be aired on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

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