KAPAA — Nicola Gibbons, on her last day of a two-week vacation on Kauai, had to catch a plane at 4 p.m. Saturday.
So she spent her final morning on the island the best way she could, to offer a little show of appreciation for what she called a magical time: cleaning up the beach at Lydgate Park as part of National Make a Difference Day.
“It’s been lovely to be part of the community,” said Gibbons, who is from New Zealand.
Gibbons was on all fours, along with new friend Mieko Lowe of Wailua, as they scoured the shoreline for debris.
She had only heard of the project that morning as she was preparing for her trip home, but she knew she couldn’t leave without being part of it.
“I’m really happy to be here,” she said.
Lowe recalled when the ponds and beaches were filled with debris following the April flooding. Saturday, she smiled as she surveyed the picture-perfect scene of sand and ocean.
“I loves to see it like is is today,” she said.
About 200 people turned out on a sunny morning to paint, repair, trim brush, rake, haul off waste and tackle jobs that will keep the crown park on Kauai looking its finest.
Well-organized keiki and kupuna were assigned to different areas. Some ended up at Kamalani Playground, others at Morgan Ponds, while still others were posted at Bynum Bridge.
This was the 14th Make a Difference Day at Lydgate Park and it brought out Erica Castillo and son Scott, who recently moved to Kapaa from Austin, Texas.
They were part of the beach cleanup crew.
“We just wanted to start helping out in our new community,” Erica said. “And it’s nice to give back.”
They didn’t mind getting a bit dirty, picking up trash, on behalf of their new home.
“We’re happy to be here,” she said. “It’s so beautiful.”
Tommy Noyes, event coordinator, displayed a detailed chart that listed who was in charge of what, and their contact information. On the other side of the paper, a map of Lydgate Park had large black arrows pointing to areas where volunteers were working.
Organization is critical to success, Noyes said.
“We find when we have this incident command structure, we can draw in a huge number of volunteers,” he said. “They know they’ll get good supervision.”
Noyes, who was bicycling around the park to keep tabs on things, has records dating back several years with names and duties of those involved. It has proven invaluable.
“We know who to appeal to come out and help,” he said.
The organizational chart he was using is a disaster recovery framework endorsed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“This is the way we create a resilient community that will stand up and take a role in a recovery effort, working in harmony and collaboration with their friends and neighbors,” he said. “Following disaster, that’s crucial to get back to normal as quickly as possible.”
While the Make a Difference Day is generally treated as a beach cleanup, bridge painting and playground repair, it is much more, Noyes said.
“In a real sense, it’s community strengthening, it’s resiliency, it’s collaboration that we’re building at the grassroots levels, which is so important to having a strong, vibrant healthy community,” he said.
Bob Robertson, an organizer, liked the turnout.
“It’s something that is a duty of every person who lives on Kauai to be part of the community,” he said. “And this shows the respect that community members have for an operation that’s been done for many years and will continue for many years.”
Liz Schmidt, who attends Kauai Bible College, turned out with others from the college to lend a hand. Her assignment was Kamalani Playground, where she was smoothing over rough edges of boards.
Why did she want to be here?
She laughed. That was easy.
“Just to make a difference,” Schmidt said.
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Bill Buley, editor-in-chief, can be reached at 245-0457 or bbuley@thegardenisland.com.
