Philanthropy is just a fancy $50 word for giving. And in our island state, giving is one of the many ways we share our aloha.

Most recently, two couples — Jack and Marie Lord and Houghton "Buck" and Doreen Freeman — have shown it in abundance.

Former "Hawaii Five-0" star Jack Lord, who died in 1998, and his wife, Marie, who died in October, have turned their shared fortune from his television career and smart investments into an estate worth $40 million.

Now 12 nonprofits, from Hospice Hawaii to the Hawaiian Humane Society, will share in the good will of the Lords. Money is the lifeblood for a group like the Hawaii Lions Eye Foundation, which will now be able to stay open as a donor bank for eye tissue.

Through generous gifting, the Lords' legacy lives on.

Buck and Doreen Freeman, married 58 years, who live part time in the Islands, continue to work on their considerable legacy. Together they have $2 billion in a trust that has generated $70 million annually for projects the 12 years.

Freeman, a son of one of the founders of AIG Insurance, has always been interested in promoting greater understanding between the U.S. and Asia, and is a major supporter of the East-West Center.

As a community, we all benefit from the philanthropy of folks like the Freemans and the Lords. They, and many others like them, are examples of the generosity embodied in the spirit of aloha.