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  • Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) - Nearly 200 Hawaiian Electric volunteers learn about Hawaiian culture while helping to preserve it

Nearly 200 Hawaiian Electric volunteers learn about Hawaiian culture while helping to preserve it


Kaneohe, HI -- About 200 Hawaiian Electric employees and their friends and families donated their time to help Papahana Kuaola at their 70-acre kauhale, a traditional Hawaiian model of communal sustainable living, in Waipao, Heeia on Saturday.

Hawaiian Electric volunteers created gardens for rare varieties of banana trees, removed weeds, gathered and debarked guava wood for construction of building frames, bundled pili grass for roof thatching, cleaned lo‘i (taro patch), and planted native Hawaiian trees and plants during the four-hour workday.




"Work days like this are awesome," said Matthew Kapaliku Schirman, program director for Papahana Kuaola. "It's difficult to manage this amount of land without the support that Hawaiian Electric showed today. More importantly than what we are doing here physically on the land, is what all the people who participate get out of it. Getting people outdoors in the environment in a place that makes them feel relaxed and welcome -- it has a really good effect on people. It's a kind of feeling that I think more and more people need today especially with the fast-paced lifestyle that we have."

"As a Hawaiian company, it is great to work with Papahana Kuaola to help preserve our native culture and restore our ecosystems so that native plants can thrive," said Briana Ackerman of Hawaiian Electric's Education and Consumer Affairs department. "We're fortunate to have so many community-minded employees who volunteer at these types of community events throughout the year. Papahana Kuaola was able to accommodate a large group and welcomed volunteers of all ages from keiki to kupuna, which allowed us to have our biggest volunteer event this year. About 200 of us were able to gather for a good cause and learn traditional Hawaiian practices."

The theme of the work day was sacred spaces. Papahana Kuaola wants to create sacred spaces where people can learn to manage the land in a respectful way. These spaces included the newly constructed gardens by Hawaiian Electric volunteers, which will help extremely rare types of banana trees thrive. The debarked guava and pili grass bundles will be used to build two hale pili (houses) within the kauhale where the community will be able gather. "A kauhale system is your lifestyle -- your home -- the place where you produce your food. You don't treat the ground like a dumpsite. That's the model of a kauhale that we are building, complete with a living community that can interact with it. It's a place where we can share our experiences and our lifestyles with the broader community," Schirman said.

Papahana Kuaola is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to create quality educational programs focused on environmental restoration and economic sustainability fully integrated with Hawaiian knowledge. Through its educational programs, Papahana Kuaola services 30,000 students each year on Oahu and Molokai. For more information about the organization and its programs, visit www.papahanakuaola.com.





About Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)
For more than 100 years, Hawaiian Electric Company has provided the energy that has fueled the islands' development from a Hawaiian kingdom to a modern state. Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO), and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric Company, Ltd. (MECO), and Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (HELCO), serves 95% of the state's 1.2 million residents on the islands of O`ahu, Maui, Hawai`i Island, Lana`i and Moloka`i.

The energy we use is an essential but limited resource necessary to maintaining our quality of life. In a changing world, Hawaiian Electric has evolved to offer more than electricity.

Today, the company also provides energy solutions to help customers save money and use energy more efficiently. Hawaiian Electric also continues to pursue the use of more clean, renewable energy alternatives to help ensure a sustainable future for our islands.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

Hawaiian Electric Company is dedicated to our community in which we live, work and serve. Rooted in Hawaii and one of the largest companies in the State, Hawaiian Electric takes the concept of malama pono -- to care for and serve -- to heart. The company and our employees have a long tradition of contributing with dollars, time and talent. Corporate citizenship is crucial to Hawaiian Electric's overall business plan because strong communities are essential to the success of the company, our employees and our customers.

Company and employee volunteerism is encouraged and every month, employees walk, run or provide manpower to dozens of non-profits throughout the State. Hawaiian Electric's corporate giving philosophy gives priority to projects that help families, promote education and protect the environment.

The company also sponsors robotics programs and events that promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) education, as well as the SunPower for Schools program bringing solar electric power to select schools, the Solar Sprint event where students design, build and race cars using solar power, and the Home Energy Challenge, a school-based competition encouraging elementary school students and their families to reduce energy use at home, among other programs.

For nearly a decade, Hawaiian Electric volunteers have provided manpower, bucket trucks and ladders to install Christmas lights at the Kaimuki Community Park and playground before the annual Kaimuki Christmas Parade in December.

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