Two Hawaii employers have been selected as semifinalists for the 2010 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award — the U.S. government’s highest recognition given to employers for support of their employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve.

Of Hawaii’s 21 nominations for the Freedom Award, Tesoro Hawaii Corp. of Kapolei and the Hawaii state government were selected as semifinalists. Examples of the semifinalists’ support for their Guard and Reserve employees include providing the difference between military and civilian salary during deployments, continuation of full benefits, care packages and even family support to employees fulfilling their military obligation. The two Hawaii employers are among 130 semifinalists from across the nation, selected from more than 2,500 nominations submitted by Guard and Reserve members or their families for outstanding employer support.

The 2010 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Awards will be presented at a ceremony next Thursday at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the award, which was instituted in 1996 under Secretary of Defense William Perry.

» The Office of Hawaiian Affairs approved recently more than $2.2 million in grants for 35 projects aimed at bettering native Hawaiian health care, human services, education, housing, economic development, native rights and cultural preservation.

» Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers donated $657,245 to the annual Combined Federal Campaign last year to support more than 4,000 local, national and international charities.

The U.S. Commerce Association gave the Hawaiian Association of Seventh-day Adventists the 2009 Best of Honolulu Award in the Private Senior High School category.