Laie North Stake helps with bike path clean-up

By Lisa Fehoko

Sunset Beach — On Saturday, September 19, 2009, nearly 100 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Laie Hawaii North Stake worked alongside volunteers from the North Shore Outdoor Circle to beautify Ke Ala Pupukea, a 3.5-mile bike path that runs through rural and commercial areas and along world renowned Sunset Beach.

The nearly 100 volunteers from the Laie North Stake (diocese), which extends from Laie to Pupukea, were each given a "Mormon Helping Hands" safety vest and divided into eight groups to cover an assigned area. Each area also had a member or two from the North Shore Outdoor Circle to help coordinate the work. The volunteers pruned, clipped and cleared debris from the bike path and the surrounding gardens along the path. In some areas, they also placed mulch supplied by the North Shore Outdoor Circle under trees for additional nourishment.

Because this was an environment-conscious project, only man-made items were placed in trash bags and hauled away. All branches, twigs and vegetation clipped and chopped along the path were broken down and placed under trees as natural mulch.

Rex Dubiel, the point of contact for this event and the coordinator from the North Shore Outdoor Circle, expressed her gratitude for the project: "The group of volunteers was great — friendly, hard-working, and energetic. I appreciate all the support your organization gave to this community. The effort the group put into the clean-up was wonderful. I have received many compliments on how great the Bike Path looks now."

Roberts "Bob" Leinau [pictured at upper right, in the tan hat], another member of the North Shore Outdoor and another key contact in the project, shared his feelings about the activity: "What a great showing for the Ke Ala Pupukea Bike Path clean up. The folks that showed up all looked sharp with their yellow safety vests. All of the workers had tools to work with and a serious intention of getting some work done, and so they did. I was amazed and delighted at the amount and quality of the work that was accomplished in the prescribed time frame. I hope that we will be able to enjoy the company of so many nice people again in the future.”

After two hours of work in progressively hot and humid weather, everyone enjoyed a hearty breakfast before heading home.

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