Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabrielle Joyner | 170429-N-WC566-0071 AIEA, Hawaii (April 29, 2017) Active duty service members,...... read more read more
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More than 70 active duty service members, military veterans, and civilian volunteers joined together to clean up the Neal S. Blaisdell Park bike path along Pearl Harbor’s historic waterfront in Aiea, April 29.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) and the City and County of Honolulu hosted the event in celebration of Earth Month, along with several other organizations, including the Mission Continues, the Wounded Warrior Project, Team Red, White and Blue, Project Rubicon and other various groups from the community.
“We had about eight different military organizations participate in this cleanup, and it showed our ability to work together to accomplish any task we put together as a team,” said Master-At-Arms 1st Class Shaine Patterson. “It showed that the military stationed on Hawaii has the ability to make positive impacts in the local community through joint teamwork.”
During the cleanup, volunteers picked up trash and cleared out the seedlings of invasive plants. According to Patterson, the event was a success due to the number of participants who came out on Saturday to support their community.
“The turnout was outstanding! Originally, only 16 personnel signed up for the event, but 38 volunteers showed up to support,” said Patterson. “Over 100 trash bags were filled and the beautification project of Blaisdell's Park Bike Path Cleanup was completed as well.”
The planning of the event itself took a massive team effort, according to Chief Master-At-Arms Daniel Mayer, Volunteer Coordinator for JBPHH, who coordinated with Kyle Tokuda from the City and County of Honolulu, the JPBHH Security Department and Honolulu Police Department to make the event possible. The collaboration between the City and County of Honolulu and JBPHH on this semiannual community project is in its 12th iteration this year.
“I remember doing it last time I was stationed here, from 2005-2009,” said Mayer. “I think it's important for us to work closely with the local community and do our part cleaning to ensure we provide a clean environment for everyone to use.”
Mayer explained that participation in environmental projects is valuable for service members as well as the local community.
“We work with one another because we both benefit from the assistance of one another and by working together, we all lean towards a common goal that we won't reach that goal alone,” said Mayer. “Although most of us only spend a few years here, the military as a whole will be here for the foreseeable future and we want to make sure that they have the opportunity to enjoy the island and its beauty as much as we have.”
Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Carolina Jose, volunteer coordinator for the JBPHH Junior Enlisted Association (JEA), said that she was glad to have a chance to meet people from the community, and do her part keep Oahu beautiful by supporting the Earth Month event.
“It is important for us to get together with the local communities and the other organizations to build a good relationship with one another, and to understand who they are,” said Jose. “Working together for one cause helps build a forever community relation between us and shows that we as military service members love this island and it's culture. We are Ohana and any way JBPHH JEA can help support our community, we are willing to.”
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2017 00:10 |
| Story ID: | 232341 |
| Location: | AIEA, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Military and Local Community Join Together to Clean Aiea Bike Path, by PO2 Gabrielle Joyner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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