KAPA‘A — Niumalu resident Kelly Corbett said when he woke up Tuesday morning to spitting rain and blustery wind, he did not expect to have fun picking up trash along the Kapa‘a Bypass Road. But that is how it happened
KAPA‘A — Niumalu resident Kelly Corbett said when he woke up Tuesday morning to spitting rain and blustery wind, he did not expect to have fun picking up trash along the Kapa‘a Bypass Road.
But that is how it happened for the 25-year-old and three fellow U-turn for Christ members who started cleaning the highway around 8 a.m.
Calvary Chapel runs the Christian-based treatment program from a Kapa‘a ranch and utilized the state Adopt-A-Highway program for the crew to conduct its community service work.
Sporting orange T-shirts and matching plastic trash bags, the group hauled away loads of roadside litter and several abandoned tires while taking time to flash smiles and shaka signs at passing motorists.
“It’s our opportunity to come bless the community,” said 21-year-old Jeremy Chinen of Kekaha. “Every day we get jobs volunteering. … It’s a cool way to come and serve.”
The U-turn for Christ program started on the Eastside more than a year ago and some of its estimated 25 members began working with the Adopt-A-Highway program roughly six months ago, Chinen said.
He added that while regular rehabilitation facilities failed to free the group from drug and alcohol dependencies, a relationship with Jesus worked.
“We have a hope now,” said 42-year-old John Gravette, who had tied an Adopt-A-Highway bag to his head to keep the rain off. “We didn’t have that before.”
The Big Island resident thanked his family and the pastor at Amazing Grace Ministries in Kona “for getting me here.”
Chinen thanked his sister, Jackie McDunn, for introducing him to the U-turn program, which changed his life from self-service to community service.
“The Nestor family,” Corbett said, deserves his gratitude for showing him a new path.
Big Island resident Ryan Depoy, 21, said his focus is serving right now, getting through the two-month program and “doing what we need to do.”
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
