2023 Hep Hero Award

Richard Smith, with Hep Free Hawaiʻi Hero 2023 Award

Congrats, Richard Smith!

We are honored to present the 2023 Hep Free Hawai’i Hero Award to our hep B champion and storyteller, Richard Smith!

This award is presented annually to a local Hawaii champion who has lived with or was affected by viral hepatitis, and has demonstrated a commitment to improving their community’s awareness of and action towards hepatitis elimination in Hawai’i.

Due to COVID-19, this award has not been presented since 2020, and we are so proud to restart this tradition with Richard as the 2023 awardee. His dedication to “Hep Free 2030” has been made evident through leadership at the Equity Workgroup, contributions for social media and awareness campaigns, patient expertise in HBV ECHO, and storytelling both for himself and his family.

Past winners include Ken Akinaka (2016), Tim Fedorka (2017), Kenson and Rensley Alik (2018), Jade Louie (2019), and PaijBritt Emmanuel (2020).

Mahalo, Richard!