The Rotary Club of Pahoa Sunset honored a group of Puna community supporters with its Service to Community Award. ADVERTISING The Rotary Club of Pahoa Sunset honored a group of Puna community supporters with its Service to Community Award. In
The Rotary Club of Pahoa Sunset honored a group of Puna community supporters with its Service to Community Award.
In addition to the awards, the recipients were presented certificates from Rep. Joy San Buenaventura, D-Puna, and the Hawaii House of Representatives for their hard work and dedication.
The awardees are:
• Catherine Ford, who wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to look for the Pahoa homeless and find out what their needs are. Ford visits those who are hospitalized, and for those who don’t have transportation, she drives them to acquire their checks, food and medication. She has become an advocate for those who normally have none.
• Lyndon Honda, a Maui chef whose passion for cuisine, food culture and compassion for others inspired him to organize various food events to benefit victims of Tropical Storm Iselle and the June 27 lava flow.
Honda rallied various chefs from Maui and the Big Island to donate their skill, time and money so 100 percent of the monies raised went to Puna farmers and those affected by Iselle and the lava flow.
• Kalani Honua, an organization that spent $89,000 of its own money to provide food, ice and water to the people of Puna who were affected by Iselle and who were without power and refrigeration. Kalani Honua showcases lower Puna to the rest of the world as a sustainable healthy agricultural Hawaiian community and has been featured in the Yoga Journal.
The Rotary Club of Pahoa Sunset meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the historic Akebono Theatre in Pahoa.
At an earlier town hall meeting, San Buenaventura also honored Rene Siracusa, who has dedicated a life of volunteer service to Puna and its residents.
Siracusa is involved in a number of community organizations including the Puna Outdoor Circle, Big Island Rainforest Action Group, Puna Friends of the Parks, Puna Malama Pono and Malama O Puna, that all have made positive environmental impacts to Puna.
