WAIMEA — An invitation by an employee of the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa resulted in a band of volunteers sprucing up Waimea Canyon Middle School on Thursday. Farmers Insurance Hawai‘i, in collaboration with the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i, students
WAIMEA — An invitation by an employee of the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa resulted in a band of volunteers sprucing up Waimea Canyon Middle School on Thursday.
Farmers Insurance Hawai‘i, in collaboration with the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i, students from the school and community volunteers made quick work of planting trees, shrubs, and other plants around the campus.
The trees, shrubs and other items for the project were donated by Farmers Insurance with the Hyatt volunteers being joined by students and community volunteers in providing the labor to do the plantings.
“We are both pleased and excited to be able to partner with Waimea Canyon Middle School and give back to the community,” said Michele Saito, president of Farmers Insurance, who lost little time before rolling up her sleeves and working alongside the students and other volunteers.
“We hope this school-beautification project will help generate school pride and benefit the students and future generations for many years to come.”
Saito said the idea for the beautification blossomed from a similar project Farmers Insurance conducted at Dole Intermediate School on O‘ahu.
“The students there have taken ownership of the plants,” Saito said. “They look out for the plants and have pride in them because they had a hand in planting them.”
The service project was kicked off with a ceremonial planting of a native hibiscus by Saito and Linda Uyehara, the school’s vice principal.
“We would like to thank Farmers Insurance for generously donating these plants to our campus for our students and faculty to enjoy,” Uyehara said.
“Not only will the donation beautify our school, it has provided an opportunity for our students to work together toward helping our environment.”
The selected plants were chosen because of their ability to withstand extreme drought conditions, making them easier to maintain, states a release from Farmers Insurance.
“Giving back to our community and helping our keiki is important to our employees and company,” said Doug Sears, Hyatt general manager.
“We are proud to partner with Farmers Insurance in lending a hand to help Waimea Canyon Middle School.”
Diann Hartman, the community-relations officer at the Hyatt, said the connection was made when Claire Hashimoto, a Hyatt employee, worked with Gerald Nakata of Farmers Insurance, and during a monthly meeting invited the group to Kaua‘i.
Melanie Joseph, Farmers Insurance marketing manager, said there is a Farmers Insurance office on Kaua‘i, located on ‘Umi Street in Lihu‘e, but for the project, Farmers Insurance flew in Saito and representatives from all of the Hawaiian Islands to help with the project.
Farmers Insurance Hawai‘i Family of Companies is a member company of Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, the third-largest, personal-lines insurance provider in the country.
Farmers Insurance Hawai‘i planted its roots in Hawai‘i in 1955 when Hawai‘i Insurance Consultants was founded to provide affordable insurance for Hawai‘i’s union and plantation workers.
Visit www.farmershawaii.com for more information.
