We had a lively weekend with three simultaneous events! Our community came together on Saturday, November 13, to clean up the nine mauka blocks of the Our Kaka‘ako neighborhood. Along with our partners, Waterfront Plaza and Surfrider Foundation, 155 volunteers gathered at The Barn at SALT at Our Kaka‘ako at 9:00 a.m. to check in and receive their cleaning materials: biodegradable trash bags, reusable gloves, and trash grabbers. Company teams, families, and furry friends came through to give their time and help clean up Our Kaka‘ako.
Our volunteers covered a lot of ground and filled their bags with trash and debris. Altogether, we had 80 to 90 full bags, totaling 303 pounds of trash! We beat our last Earth Day clean up record by 75 pounds! Each volunteer received a mahalo grab ‘n go snack bag that came with a stainless steel straw set from our partner, Surfrider Foundation, and graciously donated by Servi-Tek.
The Environmental Fair showcased local nonprofit organizations: Surfrider Foundation, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, Hawai‘i Land Trust, and Hawai‘i Wildlife Center. Each booth had educational resources, freebies, and merchandise for sale to benefit their nonprofit initiatives and a mission to teach our future generations. Clean up volunteers and SALT patrons alike checked out the fair, and the keiki loved the interactive exhibits, from the cornhole toss with “Trash, Recycle, Compost” labels on its holes to the small sandbox where bits of plastic could be picked up in a sieve.
Our first annual Kōkua Drive was this past weekend too! From 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, we welcomed the community to donate their gently used household goods to Goodwill Hawaii and canned food to Hawaii Foodbank. We had an amazing turnout of 87 bags and boxes of donated goods! The generosity of the Our Kaka’ako community will make a difference for many people on our island. We also held a holiday dinner giveaway for our participants, and Eric Pineiro of Kaka‘ako won a $200 gift card for Hibachi Honolulu Market to put toward an ‘onolicious meal!
A big mahalo to our partners Waterfront Plaza and Surfrider Foundation; sponsors Kamehameha Schools, Kaiāulu ‘o Kaka‘ako Owners Association, Parallel Capital Partners, Integrated Facility Services Hawaii, Premium Incorporated, Hawaiian Building Maintenance, Servi-Tek, and Belfor; and all the volunteers who made these events possible! We can do so much for our community and ‘āina when we all work together. To learn more about the Surfrider Foundation Oʻahu Chapter, visit oahu.surfrider.org or connect on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And join our email list to hear about our next clean ups and events!