MHS Athletes Clean Up the Wharf

MHS Girls’ Volleyball Team. Photo by Eileen Chao.

While other students relaxed their fall intersession break, Molokai High School (MHS) student athletes were hard at work –and not just at practice. Last Wednesday morning, nearly 80 MHS athletes from the girls’ volleyball, 8-man football, track and field and air riflery teams gathered at the wharf with rakes, shovels and garbage bins in hand. They participated in the wharf clean-up, a community service program started three years ago by former athletic director Camie Kimball. There are three wharf clean-ups scheduled each year, with one for every season –fall, winter and spring.

“It’s important to give back to the community because the community is their number one support[er], especially on this island,” said current athletic director Hoku Haliniak.

MHS student-athletes Keahi Imakyure and Levi Spencer-Basa help clear a trashcan full of rubbish from Kaunakakai wharf. Photo by Eileen Chao.

Students and their coaches gathered debris, leaf rubbish and green waste from the shores into large piles along the wharf. The piles would be later cleared by the county, according to Haliniak.

“I like how everybody came out and helped –no one was left out,” said freshman Keahi Imakyure, who plays 8-man football.

Freshman Kysha Kawano, a member of the girls’ volleyball team, said that her favorite part about the event was “being around all different people from all different sports and helping out.”