Armed with paint brushes, plastic gloves, rubbish bags and elbow grease, Damien Memorial School students fanned out in the community this morning, following in the footsteps of their namesake.

The students painted railings at St. Theresa's School, picked up rubbish at Kamehameha Community Park and Lanakila District Park and sorted items at thrift shops.
"It's really an honor for us to do this work," said James Andrade, an 11th-grader. "It's not even close to the work that Father Damien did, but it's an honor to go out and serve the community."
The work of the students at the all-boys school came on the eve of Father Damien's canonization in Rome. More than 350 residents have made the trek to Rome for a Father Damien pilgrimage that ends when Damien is elevated to sainthood in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday.
Damien lived in Kalaupapa for 16 years ministering to the sick, mostly patients with Hansen's disease, the disease that Damien later died of.