By Barry Villamil, President, Rotary Club of Pearlridge
I would like to share an inspirational and rewarding Rotary Club of Pearlridge (RCOP) lunch meeting experienced by members in attendance last Friday at the Pearl City Shopping Center Conference Room.
Friday’s lunch meeting featured outstanding student youth leadership guest speakers (fourth and fifth graders) from Cross Academy School’s H.O.P.E – Heal Our Planet Earth Club.
Led by Cross Academy Principal and RCOP Youth Services Director, Clarence De Lude, Cross Academy H.O.P.E Club Officers which included their President, Vice-President, Secretary, Sergeant of Arms, and Prayer person, presented their 2024-2025 school campus environmental projects that cultivate and grow native Hawaiian plants while perpetuating the Hawaiian culture for future generations to learn from and enjoy. H.O.P.E. Club members also care for and clean Aiea Stream that runs along the school campus property and native Hawaiian Garden.
President, H.O.P.E. Heal Our Planet Earth Club
“The goal of H.O.P.E. is to take care of the plants we have because it is our home, and we only have one. We focus mostly on our campus by watering our native plants and restoring the stream behind our school.
The work we do is important because taking care of our home is something we will need to do more of as we get older. Pollution is going up while resources are going down. It will be my generation’s job to fix the problems created by previous people. By starting now, the H.O.P.E. members and I will know how to teach others to care for our plants.”
The Pledge of H.O.P.E.
I pledge:
- To be kind because it is beneficial to all concerned,
- To do all assigned To Have fun, duties and chores,
- To H.O.P.E. Heal Our Planet Earth
- To Have fun
H.O.P.E – Heal Our Planet Earth Club members also recently raised seven-hundred dollars through a schoolwide “Penny Wars” fundraiser that benefitted Rotary International’s Polio Plus Program.
It is wonderful to be a part of the RCOP as it expands and grows its humanitarian and environmental outreach efforts and initiatives through the H.O.P.E. Heal Our Planet Earth Project for 2024-2025 that I created to involve, inspire, and mentor our youth in both Aiea and Pearl City schools.
H.O.P.E. – Heal Our Planet Earth is the 2024-2025 theme for the Messages of Life W.A.L.L. – With Aloha, Love Lives (forever) that is located at the Pearl City Shopping Center (Mauka side of shopping center near Don Quijote). The Messages of Life W.A.L.L. is filled with positive, heartfelt, and inspirational messages of H.O.P.E..
Cross Academy School H.O.P.E Club members collected over 120 heartfelt post it messages from students in grades K-8 and presented them to me and RCOP club members that will be posted on the Messages of Life W.A.L.L..
I was also truly honored and blessed to receive the Cross Academy “Saint of the Month Certificate Award” presented to me by the Cross Academy, H.O.P.E. Heal Our Planet Earth Club 2024-2025 Officers. I was awarded the Saint of the Month Certificate Award for my volunteer service to the school while representing both the Rotary Club of Pearlridge and Mana Loa Nimitz Lions Club.
The RCOP is on course in 2024-2025 to build upon our momentum and success of providing youth leadership opportunities for both Aiea and Pearl City Schools via financial support, mentorships, and annual partnerships in community environmental, beautification volunteer projects.
It all begins with the Rotary Club of Pearlridge Annual Free Dictionary 5000 and Good Citizen Awards Program that provides free dictionaries to over 900 third graders and their teachers.
Our RCOP goal is to stay connected to the students with programs such as H.O.P.E. through sixth grade where we will hopefully welcome them to our RCOP Interact Youth Leadership Program when they graduate to Middle School through High School.
Thank you to all of our RCOP members and supporters who continue to put their Heart in Soul into the success of our club initiatives and outreach service efforts.
Service Above Self
Photos by Barry Villamil
CROSS ACADEMY SCHOOL SAINT OF THE MONTH AWARD
MESSAGES OF LIFE W.AL.L. – WITH ALOHA, LOVE LIVES (FOREVER)
HOPE – HEAL OUR PLANET EARTH
