About us
History of VASH
The Rotary Committee was headed by Darrell Large, who became the first President of VASH. Some of the early supporters of VASH included the Mayor’s office, the City Prosecutor’s office, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Waikiki Improvement Association, the Merchants Association, the Crimes Against Tourists Task Force, the Japanese Consulate, and other government, business and community leaders such as Mufi Hannemann, Marvin Silverman (Founding Chairman of VASH), Lee Donohue (Honolulu Police Department), Murray Towill (Hawaii Hotel Association), Warren Ferreira (Outrigger Enterprises Group), Seiji Naya (Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism), Senator Les Ihara, and then Governor Ben Cayetano.
In the beginning, VASH was a statewide organization based in Honolulu. It later branched out with individual chapters located on Oahu, Hawaii Island, Maui and Kauai.
(Revised at VASH Board Meeting, August 27, 2013)
Summary
VASH has demonstrated that committed and well-trained volunteers offer the most efficient and cost-effective way of delivering that service. The citizens of Hawai‘i are well aware of the enormous negative impact that crime is having on our visitor industry, our state economy, and the future of our children and grandchildren. We are not only concerned but want something done about it. Thousands of people are willing, given the opportunity, to volunteer to reach out to these victims with caring aloha. VASH provides them with that opportunity. It is simply a matter of aloha, which is, after all, what most visitors come to Hawai‘i for in the first place. We the people, our government, and visitor industry leaders cannot afford to disappoint them.
Funding

Administration

Jessica Lani Rich
President & CEO
Lisa Fallau
Visitor Assistance Coordinator
Petra Panfiglio
Case Manager
Verna Landford-Bright
Case Coordinator
Gary Hendrickson
Security Coordinator
KenLyn Lum Yee
Bookkeeper
Chairperson: Jerome Andrade
Retired Funeral Director
Vice Chair: Rick Egged
President, Waikiki Improvement Association
Vice Chair: Cynthia Rankin
Regional Director of Public Relations, Hilton Hawaii
Secretary: Jared Higashi
Director of Government & Community Affairs, Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association
Treasurer: Rikki Ho
Vice President & Branch Manager
Waikiki Banking Center, Bank of Hawaii
Directors
Jerry Dolak, CPP
HHVISA President
Director of Safety and Security, Hilton Hawaiian Village
Lee D. Donohue
Retired Chief of Police, Honolulu Police Department; Director of Security, Securitas Security Services USA
Cynthia M. Flating
Mission Support Branch Chief, Area Port of Honolulu, Customs and Border Protection
Jim Fulton
President, James M. Fulton, LLC
Anthony Gambino
President, Nashimoto & Associates LLC
Frank Haas
Principal, Marketing Management, Inc.
Thomas W. Matthews
President, TradeWest, Inc.
Jerry Pupillo
Director of Enterprise Services
City and Country of Honolulu
Bruce Schneider
Vice President of Operations, Outrigger Enterprises Group
Lynne Toyofuku
Attorney, Marr, Jones & Wang
Tom Wogan
Former District Sales Manager, Delta Air Lines
Founding Chairman of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii:
Marvin Silverman