Canoes offered for work

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

Grant money from two philanthropic organizations will provide 20 new outrigger canoes and six trailers for six O'ahu high schools in exchange for students and supporters doing community service.

The in-kind program, also known as "sweat equity," was started by the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, which approved a $153,360 grant last year to buy 16 canoes and four trailers for Kahuku, Castle, Kailua and Kalaheo high schools if students from each of the schools did 4,000 hours of community service, said Castle Foundation executive director Terry George.

The James and Abigail Campbell Foundation adopted the program and offered Kapolei and Campbell high schools two canoes and one trailer each in exchange for 2,400 hours of community service. The Campbell Foundation grants are worth $23,000 for each school, said the organization's grant manager Keola Lloyd.

Kapolei fulfilled its commitment with a fall community cleanup.

Campbell High students, meanwhile, have done a beach cleanup, food drive and holiday card-making project for U.S. troops and are planning a "Safety Sign Wave" campaign along Fort Weaver Road from 4 to 6 p.m. today with hopes of reaching the 2,400-hour mark, said Denise Bali, a paddling team supporter.

George said his board of directors decided last year to assist the Windward schools, which owned one canoe between them, and had to borrow canoes from private clubs in order to compete in high school events.

"But the directors also believed that students would appreciate something more if they earned it," George said. "We felt community service is a critical part of education and perpetuates the aloha spirit in Hawai'i."

So the Castle Foundation grant was structured to include community service, George said.

"Two are about there and two are very close," George said of the Windward schools' community service commitment. "We're hopeful the kids will look back at the canoes 10 years from now and know that it's their legacy to their schools."

Kapolei students did a community cleanup along Fort Barrette Road and Old Farrington Highway and extended it to the school campus, where students repainted and scrubbed walls.

"Our fall sports and student government kids organized the community cleanup," Kapolei Athletic Director Elden Esmeralda said. "We thought we'd get 200 kids and ended up with about 450."

The new Barrett canoes will be painted in Kapolei's school colors, said Esmeralda. Kapolei, which has 56 girls and boys in its varsity and junior varsity paddling program, has been using Leeward Kai Club canoes and equipment.

Esmeralda hopes to have the new canoes for the upcoming January-March O'ahu Interscholastic Association paddling season.

In addition to the high school canoes, the Castle Foundation also awarded a $17,500 grant to purchase two canoes for the Waimanalo Canoe Club to replace two canoes destroyed in a storm, said George.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com