Mar 16, 2011 | Community, Environment
All volunteers who make a difference in the community by improving the environment deserve recognition, but volunteering every day for ten years and transforming an unkempt coastline into a thriving native ecosystem represents an extraordinary achievement.
Mike Perry, retired Lahaina Postmaster, has been instrumental in transforming 20 acres of Kanaha Beach Park, makai of the airport in Kahului, into a well-cared for habitat that supports diverse native plants and wildlife. Over the years, and with occasional help, Perry has cleared trash, pruned the understory of trees, trimmed back the kiawe, tended the Park’s wetlands, removed invasive weeds – an ongoing, endless chore – and nurtured heritage species that are now protecting the natural dunes.
“The County takes care of the campground in the park and mows the grassy areas, and Maui Community Work Day removes the green waste, but there’s a lot to do. I always welcome help, and there’s a lot that volunteers can learn about a unique environment of native plants growing naturally in a beachfront setting,” says Perry. (Volunteers can reach Perry through Maui Community Work Day). “Because this work does not depend on outside funding or grants, it’s sustainable all the while the voluntary effort continues,” he adds. Many locations around the State benefit from one-time improvement grants and volunteer labor, but Kanaha is special because of Perry’s ever-presence.
Before transforming Kanaha one section at a time, Perry taught himself about native plants. He apprenticed as a volunteer with Maui Community Work Day, the Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club, and on environmental projects on Molokai and the Big Island. “Over the years, Kanaha became a pleasant, family-friendly beach park,” observes Sharon Balidoy, coach of Lae`ula O Kai canoe club, which has been based at the park for 20 years. “Mike Perry is a treasure. He is a one-man force who tirelessly works hard and has made a significant difference in our community.”
Mar 14, 2011 | Innovation
Baldwin Robotics team rocked this weekend at the FIRST Robotics Competition’s San Diego Regional tournament by making it to the finals. Although their alliance ultimately lost their final match, they did an outstanding job representing their school and Maui. You can see the final match here. Baldwin is team #2439.
Mar 10, 2011 | Community
The Focus Maui Nui process identified the key role of government and public officials in responding to community values and needs, and the importance of open, ongoing communication. To promote the dialogue, we present the first in a series of profiles of the newly appointed County Department Directors.
David Goode, appointed in January 2011 as County of Maui’s Director of Public Works, has been here before – he served as Deputy Director of Public Works, and then Director, in the County administrations of Linda Lingle and James “Kimo” Apana between 1995 and 2002. Sandwiched between his two stints, David served as President of KSD Hawaii, one of Maui’s premier development companies. “Working in both the public and private sector has given me an excellent overall view of how things work – and how they can work better,” says Goode.
The Department consists of three divisions: Highways, Engineering, and the Development Services Administration. Its work includes road paving, designing, installing and taking care of sidewalks and drainage systems, maintaining traffic signals and signs, and managing the County’s Kalana O Maui complex in Wailuku. The Department of Public Works also oversees building and housing codes, grading and nuisance ordinances, and beautification projects. “One of our primary goals is to streamline the permit process and upgrade our codes, and help people navigate through the regulatory process” says Goode. “We also put a very high priority on responding to the public and listening to what our residents want.”
Goode has a long track record in construction project management. “I love to see things built and to play a part in making projects happen,” he says. When he’s not seeking constant improvement and efficiencies in his County role, Goode enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, and coaching AYSO soccer. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Carden Academy, the independent school Upcountry, and serves on the State Board of Land and Natural Resources, which oversees all policy decisions for DLNR.
Mar 3, 2011 | Sustainability
Lehn Huff, Maui School Garden Network
The Maui School Garden Network that Lehn Huff created and coordinates as a community volunteer supports project-based learning for students of all ages across the County. It also serves to promote valuable information on nutrition and growing food locally. The Network is a partnership involving over 40 public and private schools (from preschool through high school) across the County and a broad alliance of entities including the County of Maui, UH-Maui College, the Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition, Community Work Day, and others.
Lehn Huff is one of the most respected educators on Maui; she started and headed the Middle School at Seabury Hall for 20 years until her retirement in 2008. Since then, her volunteer work has focused on mentoring young educators, global education initiatives, supporting women in developing countries starting their own businesses or schools, and food and energy sustainability issues. Huff was inspired to form the Maui School Garden Network because it involved young people in learning how to take seeds, nurture them and grow them to produce food. “This empowers our students, makes them the guardians of their own nutrition, gives them physical exercise, and provides them with a living lab for project learning that integrates their curriculum: math, science, technology, social studies, and the arts,” Huff elaborates.
“It’s also about sharing information, learning about best practices, and initiating community involvement through parent workshops and volunteering.” Maui is the first County in the State to have restaurants and farms “adopting” schools and providing resources through the Network, which has developed over the last two years. “It’s exciting – sustainability and small scale gardening yielding fresh, local produce are part of a grass roots movement that’s happening on a national scale. Michelle Obama put in a garden at the White House, which helped put these issues on the national map,” adds Huff. In March 2011, a website will be launched, at http://mauischoolgardennetwork.org/.
Feb 23, 2011 | Education
Ten things you can do to contribute to Education:
- Read to your child daily.
- Tutor one hour a month at your favorite school.
- Check that homework gets done every day.
- Provide feedback to the Board of Education.
- Start a book sharing program to “recycle” gently used books.
- Adopt an intern at your business.
- Donate supplies to a classroom.
- Show up at school fundraising events.
- Create a school garden.
- Organize a Math Night at your school with other families.
What else can we do to contribute to education? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Feb 17, 2011 | Education
Joe Apolo President of Maui Pop Warner and Community Volunteer
Improving education is a key community value identified through Focus Maui Nui, and Joe Apolo, President of Maui Pop Warner, takes pride that Pop Warner football is the only national sports organization in America that requires its participants to meet academic standards in the classroom in order to play on the field. “The Pop Warner scholars program gives our players an appreciation of the role that academics, combined with athletics, can play in their lives,” says Apolo. Students have to maintain a 2.0 grade average, or 70 percent, equivalent to a “C” grade or better to be able to play Pop Warner.
“It’s a great incentive, and we always see grades go up as a result,” observes Apolo. “Of course, some of our players excel anyway, and for them, there are national Pop Warner scholarships available—one of our Maui players qualified recently. For many of our kids, following in the footsteps of Kaluka Maiava is their goal, and we can tell our players that good academics can increase the chance of college scholarships.” Maiava attended Baldwin High School and the University of Southern California before joining the Cleveland Browns in 2009.
Apolo has presided over Maui Pop Warner since 1986. “I got involved because I was a volunteer, I’d been coaching for over 20 years — and I didn’t know what I was getting into,” observes Apolo with his trademark dry wit. Anyone that knows how seriously coaches and parents take their football here on the Valley Isle will appreciate that spending 25 years at the helm of Pop Warner is a remarkable achievement. “I really believe in the program, which is why I’m still here,” says Apolo. “We have 23 teams at all levels, with over 500 kids playing football each year. We’re making a big difference for many of Maui’s students—and their families.”
Feb 9, 2011 | Community, Sustainability
Harlan Hughes
Hughes has retired now from the food and beverage industry, a background that helps explain his particular passion in giving back. He learned about volunteerism and serving the community from his mother, Lottie, who was a dedicated volunteer here on Maui well into her 80s. He also developed and directs the annual “Chefs on the Beach” fundraiser (netting $20,000 last year) which helps support several Maui nonprofits, and his work for the Food Bank serves as another remarkable example.
The Food Bank, headed by Executive Director Richard Yust, in turn leaves no stone unturned in its mission to mitigate hunger across the County. Whether it’s collecting goods from community food drives or retail and wholesale store donations, distributing perishable items through partner agencies in a timely manner, or working with local farmers to bring in donated nutritional fresh produce, about 140,000 pounds of food per month reaches needy families and individuals. “We’re all about partnerships,” says Yust. “By working together, we are able to create win-win situations.” About 90 community service agencies and faith-based organizations that run a total of 105 programs access the inventory of the Food Bank, and over 10,000 recipients each month benefit through these programs – and from the dedication of volunteers like Harlan Hughes.
Feb 2, 2011 | Community
Leslie-Ann Yokouchi’s motto for her real estate business, Windermere Valley Isle Properties, runs: “If home is where the heart is, then community is where you’ll find our souls.” Leslie credits her father, Pundy, for instilling in her the importance of taking action, contributing to a strong community, and giving back. “The Maui Arts and Cultural Center was my Dad’s principal legacy to the community,” says Leslie, “but he was involved in so many non-profit agencies one way or another.” Leslie is continuing that tradition.
Leslie entered the real estate business in 1979, and in 1997, she opened her own agency, Aina Maui Properties. Last year, her company joined the national Windermere group. “At heart, we’re still a local company with core values that are based on our ’ohana,” says Yokouchi. With every transaction, her “citizen agents” make a donation to the company Foundation. In turn, the Foundation distributes funds to local non-profit agencies dedicated to helping homeless and low-income families. During the 2010 Holiday season, the Foundation provided meals to several Maui families through a program of Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO). Yokouchi plans an annual fundraising event to grow the Foundation’s work. Leslie’s agents are also asked to donate a Community Service Day; last year, agents took time out to beautify the surroundings of the Kaunoa Senior Center in Spreckelsville.
Leslie also devotes some of her time to behind-the-scenes work on boards of Maui non-profit organizations, including the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which focuses on spay and neuter program education, and with the Maui Memorial Medical Center (MMMC) Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for healthcare services. The Foundation has been instrumental in securing a new cardiac unit at MMMC. Leslie is a long-time Board Member of Seabury Hall and is a committed advocate of the role education plays in preparing citizens who will play a productive role in our community. “Giving something back to the community often involves time, not just money,” observes Yokouchi.
Jan 26, 2011 | Community, Education
If you have ever wondered what might happen if you mix together bright young minds, committed teachers and parents, and energetic community volunteers, then look no further than Molokai. Over the last few years, a transformation has been taking place on the island as teams of students have been winning awards and turning heads with their robotics, science and math accomplishments. One of the catalysts for forging partnerships, bringing funders and volunteers together, and facilitating success is robotics “team mom,” Kimberly Mikami Svetin.
Svetin is a 13-year product of Molokai’s public schools and currently serves as school community council chair for Molokai Middle School. After leaving the island in 1987 to earn her bachelor’s degree from Pomona College, she returned in 2005 to manage her family’s business, Molokai Drugs, and raise her two young sons. She committed herself to sparking community-wide interest in developing the expertise of Molokai students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects, and she has a reputation for bringing people and projects together. Others active in the community, such as Barbara Haliniak, President of the Molokai Chamber of Commerce Foundation, pay tribute to Kimberly’s efforts. “I think we are witnessing a shift of momentum, and now there’s a mindset on the island that our students can go far, and compete not just against the best in the State and on a national level, but globally,” says Haliniak.
Our second-year robotics teams spent ten months preparing for their Maui competition and have distinguished themselves,” said Svetin. Three Molokai robotics teams–the Gleeks, the Kaunakakai Pharmers, and the Forget-Me-Nots–outperformed other Maui County teams to represent the district in the 6th Annual Hawaii First Lego League Championship on December 11th in Honolulu. Enthusiasm for robotics has spread to Molokai High School, which now has a VEX robotics team. Svetin’s latest endeavor is to bring graduate students and instructors from the University of Hawaii-Manoa to mentor 300 students for Molokai Math Day on February 26th.
Jan 19, 2011 | Innovation
Maui’s technology sector, which employs about 2,000 people, provides the economy with healthy diversity and represents a sustainable strategy for further development, aligning with values voiced by the community through the Focus Maui Nui process. One of the leaders in this area of “clean” growth is the company founded in 1997 by Vaughn Vasconcellos—Akimeka, LLC. This award-winning global enterprise fills Information Technology (IT) needs for the Department of Defense and state agencies. Akimeka, based in Kihei, is now one of Hawaii’s largest information management and technology companies.
Vasconcellos was raised on Molokai and attended Kamehameha schools before graduating with an engineering degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an executive master of business administration in strategy from Northeastern University. In 2000, the Small Business Administration for the State of Hawai’i selected Mr. Vasconcellos as Entrepreneur of the Year, and since then, prestigious awards have continued thanks to a dedicated staff and through hard work.
Akimeka was named one Hawaii’s “Best Places to Work” in 2008. Vasconcellos was named Hawaii’s Small-Business-Person of-the-Year (SBPOY) for 2009. Akimeka has become a “family of organizations” with more than 220 employees in operations spanning Hawaii and Texas, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In August 2010, Akimeka was acquired by VSE Corporation and continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Vasconcellos’ aim of creating jobs goes beyond building business to supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. The Alaka’ina Foundation, a not-for-profit Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO) founded by Vasconcellos focuses on building leadership programs for native Hawaiian youth in rural areas and Hawaiian Homestead communities.
