Clean sweep in Manoa
By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist
The phone and e-mail tree has been fully activated in Manoa with news that one of the community's most energetic volunteers has received a prestigious award.
Helen Nakano, the driving force behind a communitywide environmental education program called the Kuleana Project, has received a 2003 Environmental Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Notification arrived in the mail on Wednesday.
"Congratulations!" the letter read. "Each year, we celebrate and recognize outstanding environmental advocates who have made significant contributions toward enhancing and protecting the quality of our environment."
The letter says 35 organizations and individuals were selected from almost 150 nominations from the EPA's Region 9, which includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawai'i and the Pacific islands. Selections were based on "innovativeness, ability to work with others and the replicability of the project," among other criteria.
Nakano, a retired financial planner who is active in the grass-roots environmental organization Malama O Manoa, mobilized an army of volunteers to conduct a massive environmental education and conservation campaign. Students from the area's elementary, middle and high schools, both public and private, did stream cleanups and storm drain stenciling, participated in essay contests and joined sign-waving campaigns.
The crux of the Kuleana Project was to get students to conduct detailed surveys of 1,000 Manoa households asking about water conservation measures and disposal of hazardous household materials. The students graded the answers and went back to the houses with tips on how to change ways for the better.
Nakano recruited retirees, teachers, Scout troops, politicians, professors and the Board of Water Supply to work together on the yearlong project.
There was quite a bit of paperwork to be collected and analyzed. The initial household surveys had 35 questions, and there were follow-up questions.
Everyone involved in the project points to Nakano as their hero. Nakano shakes her head and points right back at them.
By midday yesterday, a second e-mail was making the rounds. This one, the Helen-approved one, said the award was going to her, to Malama O Manoa and to the Board of Water Supply for everyone's work:
"Helen wanted you to know that this was possible only because of the collective efforts of all of you."
"She will never talk about herself. She won't take any credit. But in everything she does for the community, she has such a passion," said Malama O Manoa past president Barbara Lowe. "She's our Energizer bunny."
Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.
