WAIMEA — Police and community volunteers worked to clean up a portion of Waimea’s nature park, which has been a site for homeless camps and at times juvenile delinquent behavior. ADVERTISING WAIMEA — Police and community volunteers worked to clean
WAIMEA — Police and community volunteers worked to clean up a portion of Waimea’s nature park, which has been a site for homeless camps and at times juvenile delinquent behavior.
Thursday morning, police hosted a Hawaii Police Activities League (HI-PAL) event to clear 4 acres of fallen trees and brush from Ulu La‘au Nature Park behind Longs Drugs on Kawaihae Road. The activity brought out local kids as well as the park’s volunteer caretakers with Waimea Outdoor Circle.
HI-PAL is a program that provides positive activities for youths that teach moral and social values, such as sportsmanship, fair play, respect for authority, self-discipline and the benefits of hard work, all while having fun. HI-PAL also reaches out to youths who are considered “at risk” due to economic, geographical or social situations.
Thursday morning’s event was meant to get children involved with volunteering and to teach them stewardship.
“Kids don’t realize how much work it takes to maintain this park,” said Community Policing Officer May Lee. “This is an opportunity to give back.”
For years, Lee said, that section of park has been a spot for homeless camps. Recently, police observed three to four camps in the area. Waimea has never had a tent city where the homeless have come and stayed. They mostly have transient camps.
Aside from the homeless camps, Lee said, there were two instances where teenagers living in the area out for summer break stole liquor from Longs and got drunk in the park.
“That’s when we started focusing our efforts to clear it out,” Lee said.
Lee said one of the fastest ways to get a homeless camp to vacate an area is to clear the brush because it eliminates the ability to hide.
Arlene Block is one of the volunteers at Waimea Outdoor Circle who helps maintain the nature park. She said the reason the 4-acre section is overgrown is because they don’t have easy access and it’s hard to get water to it.
Eventually, Block said the hope is to get a bridge to connect that section with the larger part. However, it is expensive.
“This is our third event with police who’ve spearheaded this cleanup,” Block said.
The mission of Waimea Outdoor Circle, Block said, is to plant native plants in the park.
Kids participating Thursday saw the value of their work.
Dylan Gomes, 14, helped clear fallen branches from the park. He said he thinks it’s good to be out cleaning the park because it helps the environment.
Gomes thinks cleaning it up will help with removing homeless camps and bad behavior.
Enry Bemry, 11, also volunteered.
“It makes me feel good cause I’m helping others,” Enry said.
The volunteers spent the morning clearing brush and painting newly built pallet furniture. Lee said the goal is also to make it enjoyable for kids and a nice area for employees at Longs to take breaks.
Block agreed.
“It makes it more usable and friendly,” she said of the space.
Waimea Outdoor Circle volunteers donate time every other Saturday to care for the park. To learn more about the nature park, visit www.waimeaoutdoorcircle.org. For more information on HI-PAL, visit www.hawaiipolice.com/community/hi-pal.
