Tadd Fujikawa hasn't played on the Moanalua High golf team since he was a freshman, but that didn't stop him from playing for Na Menehune.

One of the things Fujikawa did when he cashed his first check as a pro earlier this year was to turn around and write one to his high school golf team. And the robotics team. And his senior class.

Altogether he sent about $5,000 from his first payday, the Sony Open in Hawai'i, to Moanalua in order, as he put it, "to give back to the people who helped me."

When school officials suggested Fujikawa, who graduated this month, might want to postpone the donation just in case he didn't make many other cuts for a while, he persisted. "My mind was made up to donate the first time I got paid," Fujikawa said.

A noble gesture and one you hope will inspire not only successful athletes but graduates in other fields to do the same. With the state Department of Education poised to trim upwards of $1 million from athletics and the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association cutting back heavily on participation in state tournaments, our schools can sure use the help.

"I know it isn't easy (for schools), particularly with the economy now, and that every little bit helps," Fujikawa said.

How much his gifts aided Na Menehune, who finished second in the state in golf, or the robotics team that went to national competition, isn't known. But Fujikawa said, "I hope it helped in some small way. I hope I can continue to give back to my school in future years."

By no means is Fujikawa, who graduated this month, alone, of course. Golfer Parker McLachlin and former UCLA football players Billy Pieper and Adam Wong, and City Council Chair Todd Apo, all graduates of private schools, have been among the biggest benefactors for the HHSAA. Dozens of others, including St. Anthony's Shane Victorino, have given directly to their alma maters.

And many more need to pitch in, if their situations allow. For a while now, many schools, public in particular, have tapped Christmas tree sales, concessions stands and car washes to make shoestring budgets. But with deeper cuts in state money coming, our schools can use more like Tadd Fujikawa. A lot more.