People: George Yoshida
Hawaii native finds home in Colorado, fulfillment in helping others
By Joe Nguyen
July 24, 2007
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On April 26, George Yoshida stood in the hallway on the second floor of the Marriott Denver Tech Center.

Accompanied by his wife, Helen, and one of his daughters, Yoshida greeted guests who came to see him receive the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award – an accolade recognizing men and women who make unique contributions to the community.

“How do you feel?” a man asked him.

Yoshida grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him aside.

“It's nice,” he said with a big smile. “But I really just want this to be over with.”

The answer elicited laughter from both men. It was typical George – a man who has spent his entire life helping others and bringing smiles to their faces.

Photo by Joe Nguyen George Yoshida was the recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award for April 2006.

Yoshida is a familiar face in Denver's Asian Pacific American community. He is almost certain to be at most major APA events, helping with whatever he can. But when he retired 10 years ago, after working at National Jewish Medical and Research Center for 35 years, his friends and family didn't know what he would end up doing with all his free time.

“Most of my friends at the hospital would say, 'I guess you can do more fishing, but you can only do so much fishing'” he said.

Instead of relaxing during his retirement years, he followed a passion to do volunteer work around the community.

“Retirement is hard if you don't have something to do,” he said. “Otherwise, you could end up becoming a couch potato.”

Among the commitments he has made over the years include the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the Asian Pacific Developmental Center, the Aurora Asian Pacific Community Partnership, the Asian Roundtable, the Asian Pacific American Relay For Life – which holds special meaning because he is a survivor of colon cancer – and Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit organization that focuses on collecting and distributing medical supplies to third-world countries.

“I still enjoy doing a lot of volunteer,” he said. “I don't want to be vice president or president or whatever. I just want to be a volunteer and get to meet people. I've learned a lot of stuff from being here.”

He said someone once asked him what he got out of being on the board of the Denver Chinese Culture Society, as he isn't of Chinese descent.

“I sure get a lot of of their culture,” he said with a laugh. >> continue