Volunteers ready to lend a hand, make a difference
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer
At 9 a.m. on Oct. 27, Edna Wada will close her Kapahulu door and catch a bus to Ronald McDonald House in Manoa to spend the next three hours weeding the vegetable garden, compelled to "Make a Difference" as part of a national outpouring of volunteerism.
Photo courtesy of Sue Garner
"I'm just going to do something small," said the 53-year-old disabled worker who now stays at home full time caring for her 91-year-old mother, Matsu.
Sierra Club volunteers, from left, Fred Casciano, Sue Garner, Steve Pickering, Sylvianne Yee and Gwen Sinclair, cleaned up part of Ka Iwi beach during Make a Difference Day last year.
"And maybe later we can do something bigger."
Wada is one of the hundreds of volunteers expected to show up throughout Hawai'i on Oct. 27 as part of "Make a Difference Day," which will provide volunteer labor to about 20 nonprofit agencies. Big or small, their contributions offer invaluable help to many organizations.
For those interested in offering a few hours of assistance that day, there's still time to call Helping Hands Hawai'i, this year's clearinghouse, to sign-up for a project. Call for more information and a complete list of the agencies and projects available. (See box for information and phone number.)
"Volunteers are like gold," said Gene Davis, spokesman for Ronald McDonald House Charities, which counts on dozens of volunteers all year long to handle crucial tasks.
"They enhance our services, lighten the load on staff, bring in needed expertise, act as conduits to the community, are natural goodwill ambassadors and save us money that can be used to help families further."
At Helping Hands Hawai'i Nita Faa'taa'pe has been fielding up to 20 calls a week from individuals looking for ways to help that day.
"We'll have a lot of people from churches, from the military, from colleges," Faa'taa'pe said. "I'll hook them up with the agencies they're interested in. And the volunteering that happens that day can also continue."
Ongoing volunteer projects remain from past years, but new agencies have also been faxing in their volunteer needs to the Helping Hands clearinghouse, Faa'taa'pe said.
Two years ago, more than 100 volunteers swept along the remote Ka Iwi beach region beyond Sandy Beach to help the Sierra Club with a massive one-day clean-up of the proposed park. Volunteer outings leader Gwen Sinclair is hoping for another amazing turnout.
"If we get enough people, we hope our cleanup will be about two miles," said the University of Hawai'i librarian who is organizing this year's volunteers. "The last time we found unopened cans of beer, a lot of broken glass, fishing line, old picnic stuff, even a car door.
"We're just amazed at how much rubbish is out there. And it's not washing up from the ocean."
Sinclair said the state issues gloves and bags for the garbage, but volunteers are advised to wear closed-toe shoes for safety.
Meanwhile, at the new West O'ahu YMCA in Wahiawa, executive director Donna Roper is delighted that the Waialua and Mililani Sunrise Rotary clubs are going to be painting the whole building as part of an ongoing refurbishment for the recently-opened unit that already serves more than 40 teens and young people.
"We got a grant from the city to replace the roof," Roper said, "and slowly, as we get money or volunteers, we've been able to make improvements."
The needs of young people in the area are immense, she said, and the new YMCA hopes to be able to serve as many as possible.
"The other day one of the girls was saying she'll never go to college because her mother didn't, and we had a great discussion about how we could find her scholarships.
"What's important is the influence the staff can have," Roper said. "If a kid's parents have always been on welfare, they think there's not a whole lot of help for them and we want to change that."
Volunteers from the Rotary who are coming to paint the building and make it more livable, will go a long way toward making that goal a reality, Roper said.
"With enough money, we could serve thousands of kids," she said. "Look at these last two weeks. Wahiawa is on a year-round school schedule and the kids had nothing to do. We opened from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. But of course, we had to charge. If we had more money for scholarships, we could serve even more kids. The potential is incredible."
