HANALEI — The Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay is good at making a difference in the lives of others. Thirty members of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay recently headed over to Hanalei Elementary School to install a new paver
HANALEI — The Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay is good at making a difference in the lives of others.
Thirty members of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay recently headed over to Hanalei Elementary School to install a new paver block patio.
The project was designed by school principal Lisa MacDonald and will help children leaving their classrooms cross an area that became muddy whenever it rained. Rotarians prepared the area and then installed one foot square paver blocks. The new paver-block patio is 3’ x 200’ and fronts the entire building.
To encourage and support communities to work together to improve their physical environment, the Weinberg Foundation created the Friends Grant Program.
The Friends program donates $10,000 to an approved nonprofit of the Rotary’s choosing after the club volunteers over 100 hours of community service in a one-morning project. This year, the Hawaii Food Bank-Kauai Branch was selected, and the funds will be used to support the three North Shore food pantries on Kauai.
“Thanks to the Weinberg Foundation, this was a win-win-win for the Rotary and its partners in this project,” said Branch Lotspeich, chair of community service for the Hanalei Bay Rotary. “We are honored to be able to help the Hanalei School and the Hawaii Food Bank, all in the same morning.”
The check for $10,000 was presented to Michelle Panoke, administrative supervisor of the Hawaii Food Bank-Kauai Branch, by Lotspeich at the club’s Thursday lunch meeting.
“The need for food support for Kauai families is greater than ever,” Panoke said. “We are very grateful that the Hanalei Bay Rotary selected us to receive these funds.”
This is the ninth Weinberg Friends project the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay has performed, resulting in $90,000 donated to local nonprofits on Kauai.
