EWA BEACH, Hawaii - Gov. David Ige joined forces with the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy, members of the state legislature, the Hawaii National Guard and the James Campbell JROTC to complete a heat-abatement service project at James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Funded by Hawaii 3R's - Repair, Remodel, Restore our schools program and money from the department of education's facilities maintenance budget, the group tackled a series of passive cooling measures that will also help keep the state's overall costs down.
All National Guard Challenge Academy programs contribute a community-service project and this year, at least 20 of the 40 programs have reported that they plan to perform their service this weekend.
In this one, the volunteers planted trees, shrubs and placed sod around Saber Hall and Building O to reduce sunlight on buildings, absorb heat, and limit glare and reflected heat into classrooms. The cost of this project is $36,500, which includes the reduction in project costs due to the all-volunteer labor force.
"I'm grateful to Hawaii 3R's, the department of education, and the volunteers who worked hard today to help make the learning experience at these schools better. The department is making progress in cooling classrooms, and we wanted to boost their efforts by participating in this work day. It was a way to let our public school students, teachers and staff know we value them," Ige said.
"This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to improving the environment for the students at the largest school in the state," said Linda Chu Takayama, secretary and treasurer of Hawaii 3R's.
"We are grateful to have the participation of our government leaders and community partners in service to improve our schools," Deputy Superintendent Stephen Schatz said. "When we come together we can accomplish our goals."
Although our Guard members have full time jobs and train one weekend each month, our department had absolutely no problem getting volunteers to sacrifice personal time to support this vital heat abatement project," said Brigadier General Kenneth Hara, deputy adjutant general, State of Hawaii department of defense.
About Hawaii 3R's: Hawaii 3R's (Repair, Remodel, Restore our Schools) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye. The organization has completed more than 500 projects at schools across the state, resulting in a savings to the state of more than $40 million in repair and maintenance costs. Hawaii 3R's leverages "sweat equity" provided by volunteer help with cash donations to address the repair and maintenance backlog facing Hawaii's public schools.