Saturday June 26th was our latest Adopt-A-Block event in the Iwilei Business District and by far our most successful one yet.  In 2009 we started with 20 volunteers and were only able to clean a few blocks.  On Saturday we had 91 volunteers and cleaned from N. King Street to Pacific, from Nimitz to Pine as well as the area surrounding Kmart and the IHS/Salvation Army complex.  What a morning!
 
The HONBLUE doors were open by 7:30 and Darcey Builders greeted us with coffee & pastries.  By 8 am we were joined by volunteers representing 9 other companies in the neighborhood, including:
 
1.    Darcey Builders
2.    Big Brothers, Big Sisters
3.    Austin, Tsutsumi & Associates
4.    Travel Plaza Transportation
5.    Local Motion
6.    Tesoro
7.    The IHS Group (a second group arrived shortly after – volunteers from the women & children’s shelter)
8.    Kmart
9.    Trade West
 
The volunteers were divided into five groups and assigned a different part of the neighborhood.  Everyone chipped in by either sweeping or removing weeds and trash from the sidewalks.  We finished up shortly after 10 am and the City sanitation truck arrived right on time to collect the trash.
 
It was a beautiful morning and great to watch the Iwilei workers come together with the help of C&C departments to make a difference in an area we spend so much of our time.  It’s been inspiring to watch this program grow over the past year and with momentum building in the neighborhood I hope to collectively start making a real difference.
 
One more thing – I would also like to give a shout out to the Honolulu Police Department.  They provided air tight security for us the entire time.  Keep up the good work officers.
 
Want to help out with our next Adopt-A-Block event on Saturday September 18th?  Read more about it here (http://www.cleanwaterhonolulu.com/storm/hero/adopt.html) or contact me at shines@honblue.com or 441-4452.