Waimea Valley's Earth Day Celebration: Volunteering Mauka to Makai

Come celebrate 51 years of Earth Day with us at Waimea Valley

Earth Day is that special day of the year when people across the globe get together and malama honua (care for the planet). This year marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day and we want to celebrate with a big event. We were unable to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth day due to the Covid-19 situation in 2020, so we are hoping to make up for lost time and work and have a great volunteer celebration this year. We are very excited to welcome all of you to join us at Waimea Valley for our 5th annual Earth Day Volunteering celebration. We will have various projects throughout the valley for helpers of all ages, followed by an exclusive raffle where volunteers could win great prizes such as a 1-year Family pass to the valley.

• The morning will start around 8:30am we will have the volunteers sign waiver forms and choose which projects they want to participate in. We have various things the projects will focus on such as: forest restoration, invasive species removal, trash cleanup, weeding and planting throughout Waimea Valley property.
• After that, we will give a short introduction to the Valley and its history. Then we will perform our oli protocol (a traditional Hawaiian way to ask for entry into the valley). Volunteers are encouraged to participate in this, but not required.
• Around 9:00 am we will be splitting into groups and moving to the project sites. Once you arrive at the site, the volunteer work begins.
• At 12:00pm (noon) the volunteering projects will wrap up and it will be time for lunch. The volunteers are encouraged to bring a lunch or to purchase one at our snack shop because you will want to stick around.
• During lunch, starting around 12:15 pm we will be passing out tickets for our raffle. To receive a raffle ticket, you must have signed a waiver form and signed up for a project in the morning.
• The raffle will begin at 12:45pm and go until we run out of prizes. We have some awesome gifts in store for the volunteers like a free annual pass to the valley.

Speaking of passes, anyone who participates in the Earth Day volunteering will be welcomed to come into the valley for free for the rest of that day. So you can volunteer in the morning, win a prize during lunch and go for a swim at the waterfall and a stroll through our amazing valley to end a beautiful day. We will also have booths set up for community organizations to share their information and upcoming events. The volunteers and visitors are encouraged to take time and learn from them. We are all looking forward to a wonderful event and we hope to continue to grow and expand this opportunity in the years to come.

Please get in touch with the Waimea Valley Volunteer Coordinator if you have any questions or want to RSVP. Volunteers@WaimeaValley.net

How This Helps Our Community

This work will help Waimea valley protect its plant collections as well as the rare and endangered animals we care for. it also helps us to protect the estuary and because everything eventually goes to the ocean it also helps to maintain the near shore ecosystem of the big wave surfing beach, Waimea Bay and the nearby Marine Conservation District.