Friends For Fitness West Hawaii Community Coalition began in 1992 to decrease the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and to improve the health of Hawaii residents. Our mission is to create and promote a healthy, livable, and physically active community through *Partner/Community participation *Education and awareness *Resource development.
Ed is the reason the plants at the Maka’eo path are so green, colorful and healthy. If it wasn’t for his irrigation talents, we wouldn’t have the Beautiful Path that we have. He spends tireless hours puting in, fixing and making sure all the timers, hoses and emiters are in tip top shape. We all thank him with our hearts for being a part of the Friends for Fitness and being a Fantastic Volunteer!!
Friends for Fitness Volunteers of the Quarter, Jan, Feb, March 2011. John & Dawn Karasaki. Husband and wife team joined Friends for Fitness around a year ago. They began tending to the Lauhala section of the path, and have expanded their efforts to helping any section that is needing care. These two terrific volunteers are at the path often doing so much to keep the ongoing beautification project alive. Mahalo to you both.
Thanks for all your hard work and fun dispositions.
CONGRATULATIONS MARY ALICE
Kona Commons supports the Maka’eo Project by including us in their fundraiser. The money collected from the selling of these coupons is 100% towards the project.
The Giving Pass has a $500 enter to win a Hawaiian Airlines gift certificate and other great door prizes. On the back is coupons to some of the stores and restaurants.
We are selling it for $5. We are down at the path on Thursdays 7am – 11am, or you can reach us by phone at (808)329-5519. Your Kokua is appreciated…
The spirit of volunteerism, generosity and a can-do attitude was evident Sunday at Old Kona Airport Park and Kohanaiki, where roughly 45 soldiers from Schofield Barracks participated in various community service projects.Working in partnership with Friends for Fitness, The Rotary Club of Kona and The Rotary Club of Kona Sunrise, the soldiers removed rubble and rock from an anchialine pond near the southern end of the Makaeo Walking/Jogging Path. They also created additional walkways that interconnect with the path and go through planted areas.Kona Rotarians have been hard at work over the past couple months, restoring this old fishpond in honor of Francis Kuailani Sr., a retired Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park superintendent and longtime Rotarian who died in December. Rotarians felt bringing life back to this fragile and rare pond would be a fitting tribute to Kuailani, who was Native Hawaiian and passionate about the culture, said Renee Kraft, community service director for the Rotary Club of Kona.
Monday, July 12th, Shinto Priest Daizo Watanabe from Hilo honored the Friends for Fitness by coming to Kona and blessing our new Shinto building in the Maka’eo walking/jogging path. The “Shaden” (shrine building)as it is called before the blessing, and “Azumaya” (small building) after the blessing, was donated by Carol Jean Nagrodsky Tamburo. It was assembled at the path by Friends for Fitness, assisted by the Rotarians, under the direction of Ed Cochran.
Special guests of the Shinto religion who honored the occasion by attending the blessing were Hidetaka Sato, Tadao Sakamoto and Mioko Sakamoto of Mauka Kona.
Friends for Fitness members along with adoptees of the park were also in attendance. Path users also stopped by to witness the ceremony.
Our path is getting better and better all the time.
Student Academic Resource Services, Inc.
We would like to say a huge Mahalo to the Stars group for adopting an area to expose their students and their parents to the process in dealing with a project from the ground up.
It is a “feather in their cap,” knowing they were a part of the whole process of the beautification. So many users and visitors have expressed the remarkable change in the area, and their group was a good part of that improvement. We will miss their presence. Thanks go out to them for their initial effort to help in our endeavor. Mahalo.
