They exemplify generosity and benevolence, and continue to make an impact.

They are the 2017 Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii Living Treasures of Hawaii award winners.

Beatrice “Beadie” Kanahele Dawson, Bishop Ryokan Ara, Nobuko Kida, Roy Sakuma and George Yokohama have demonstrated excellence in their particular fields and made significant contributions toward enriching society, in keeping with award criteria.

The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii originally began the awards in 1976.

The winners will be honored at the 42nd Living Treasures of Hawaii Recognition Program and Gala Luncheon at 11 a.m. Feb. 11, in the Coral Ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort.

To register, visit 808ne.ws/livgtreas. Early registration is $75 for payments received by Jan. 28; after that, $90 until Feb. 5.

In a news release, a summary of the honorees’ accomplishments was provided as follows:

Beatrice “Beadie” Kanahele Dawson

Dawson is a Hawaiian activist, business executive and attorney who faced “one of the biggest challenges of her life: seeking justice for the beneficiaries of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate amid the worst trustee mismanagement controversy” in the late 1990s. Among her greatest achievements has been the restoration of Iolani Palace through the Friends of Iolani Palace, of which Dawson is a founder.

She has served as an officer and director of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., and is president of the Social Science Association, an organization of Hawaii’s most prominent leaders. Dawson is also an active board member of the Friends of the Medical School at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and contributes a lot of time to the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawaii.

Bishop Ryokan Ara

Promoting friendship and understanding between Japan and Hawaii has motivated Ara in his contributions as an accomplished artist and historian. His classes in calligraphy, flower arranging, Japanese-style painting and tea ceremony led to the establishment of the Hawaii Bijutsuin, or the Hawaii Institute of Arts.

He was instrumental in founding the Hawaii Ichigu Kai, a Buddhist service organization, which undertook the audio recording of 100 issei (first-generation immigrant Japanese) sharing their life stories. These valuable recordings were donated to the Bishop Museum.

In 1987 Ara initiated the Honolulu Toro Nagashi (floating lantern) ceremony on the Ala Wai Canal to pray for peace and to honor those who died fighting in World War II. To preserve the stories of courage and sacrifice from the dwindling number of Japanese nissei soldiers, Ara raised thousands of dollars to publish a series of books, “Japanese Eyes, American Heart”; Volume 4 is currently in production. He has donated them to schools and libraries.

Nobuko Kida

“Kida has dedicated her life to serving as a bridge between Japan and Hawaii through ikebana, or flower arranging.”

She started study of the Ikenobo style of ikebana at age 15 in Okinawa. Moving to Hawaii with her husband in 1978, Kida began arranging flowers for temple services and functions, which led to teaching children and co-founding the Ikenobo-Ikebana Society of Hawaii.

Kida received a Lifetime Achievement certificate from the Sen’ei Ikenobo, the 45th headmaster of the Ikenobo Society of Floral Art (Japan headquarters), and was named 2014 Uchinanchu of the Year by the Hawaii United Okinawa Association. She continues to update her skills regularly via professors from Japan and attending workshops in Japan. She also participates in displays and gives classes.

Roy Sakuma

For more than 30 years, Sakuma has taught thousands of people to appreciate and play the ukulele. After hearing a song by the renowned Herb “Ohta-san” Ohta, Sakuma became his student and aspired to become the greatest ukulele player in the world.

In 1974 he opened the Roy Sakuma Studio, which currently consists of four locations with 30 instructors. Among his students are, most notably, Jake Shimabukuro and the late Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole.

Sakuma started the Ukulele Festival at Kapiolani Park in July 1971, and the annual event is now the largest in the world, the release said. With his wife, Kathy, he founded the Ukulele Festival Hawaii, a nonprofit organization that coordinates the event to ensure it continues for future generations, helps sponsor other festivals in Hawaii and funds college scholarships for high school students.

George Yokoyama

Yokoyama, at age 90, is still using the power of prose to help the poor. Based in Hilo, he is a prolific grant writer who has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in grants through the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council over the last 45 years. As its founder and executive director of the nonprofit for 40 years, he is retired but continues to work. The projects funded by grants range from job training for welfare recipients to a dialysis machine for rural Kau patients.

Yokoyama wrote and published in 2015 a book, “A Memoir of Fighting Poverty in Paradise,” which shares insight into his passion for fighting poverty.