A Hawaiian farm advocate, a woman who used her own disability to help others, a philanthropist, an Army Reservist and a supporter for the disabled and elderly are this year's top volunteers in Hawai'i, recipients of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

This year's group of top public servants — John Henry Felix, Paula Kekahuna, Dr. John Magauran, Margarette Pang and Kwai "Sunny" Young — were selected from a pool of 19 applicants nominated by friends and family and chosen for their outstanding personal acts and community impact.

They're the unsung heroes of volunteerism.

"It was varied," said Ivalee Sinclair, the Hawai'i 2007 Jefferson Award recipient. "There were so many people who had done some fantastic things. It was hard to choose the top five."

The award, created in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard, is a who's who of outstanding Americans.

This year's five will be recognized at a luncheon on Thursday at the Pacific Club. One of the recipients will be selected to represent Hawai'i in Washington, D.C., in June.

Here is the first of five profiles:

Kwai "Sunny" Young is about the most self-deprecating man you will ever meet. Even his wife doesn't know all of his accomplishments.

"My kids don't know about these awards," said Young, 72. "My wife knows about some of them, but not all."

The 'Aiea resident was a logistics officer in the U.S. Army Reserves and a deputy chief of staff for logistics for the headquarters in Japan before he retired after 34 years of active and reserve service in 1990. And when he wasn't on reservist duty, he was working for the Navy as a civilian technical director until he retired in 1996.

He volunteers at the USS Arizona Memorial, is a member of the Pearl City Lions Club, a member of the Kalihi YMCA Service Club and serves on the YMCA Camp Erdman board of directors. He also volunteered at the funerals of military veterans.

"I do things for myself," Young said. "But when I volunteer, it's social for me and rewarding. I've donated 4,000-plus hours at the Arizona Memorial.

"Volunteering for me is something to do. My Dad told me I had to give back to the community."