HCAP Weekly November 3, 2014

In this week’s issue:

Kumuhonua Receives Garden Makeover from The Home Depot
Hā Initiative “Halawabots” Compete in FIRST LEGO League Competition
Hā Initiative “Palamabots” Achieve Team Best at FIRST LEGO League Competition
State of Hawaii – Office of Community Services (OCS) Conducts Weatherization Assistance Program Monitoring
New Volunteers Brings Wealth of Experience to Leahi District
HCAP’s First #Unselfie of the 2014 Giving Season

Kumuhonua Receives Garden Makeover from The Home Depot

On Friday, November 7, 2014, HCAP’s Kumuhonua Transitional Living Center, in partnership with US Vets, received a garden makeover from the Home Depot. Over 50 volunteers from the Home Depot gathered at Kumuhonua to build a BBQ pit, raised garden boxes, picnic tables, and beautify the grounds for residents and guests to gather.

Davilyn Chang, Kumuhonua Manager shared, “the hard work of the volunteers does not go unnoticed and unrecognized, and we greatly appreciate their time and effort to make this all possible for the residents of Kumuhonua. We are so grateful for all of their help as this has set a precedence for current residents, as well as those to follow.” Mahalo to our partner, US Vets for applying for the Home Depot community project grant, which made this all possible.

Hā Initiative “Halawabots” Compete in FIRST LEGO League Competition

For the past month, students at the Central STEM Exploration Center have been growing their programming skills for the FIRST LEGO League robotics competition, which was held at Kalakaua Middle School on Saturday November 1st. The competition consisted of three major segments: core values, the robot game and the project. This year’s theme was Lego World Class in which the various missions dealt with how people learn. Robot game missions were based on things like the Cloud, social networking, pictures, community, apprenticeship, reverse engineering, sports and search engines. While there were 15 missions with various levels of difficulty, the “Halawabots” attempted 7 of their most studied missions. With the exception of one competitor, the all-rookie team (including the coach) did well for their first time. Students were challenged with unexpected problems as many of their pre-programmed missions were not working on competition day. Due to unknown factors, the Halawabots were literally competing with the clock to reprogram their robots before their matches. With great patience, persistence and the whole HCAP team cheering them on, the Halawabots improved on every one of their three matches.

And the end of the day the Halawabots, learned that they could overcome any challenge if they continue to believe in themselves and “just try.”

The Halawabots would like to give special thanks to Coach Christian Miller of the Palamabots for all his advice and guidance. They would also like to thank Michelle Stevens, Brittany Wilson and the entire HCAP crew for their unwavering support.

Hā Initiative “Palamabots” Achieve Team Best at FIRST LEGO League Competition

The Palamabots robotics teams of the Kalihi STEM Exploration Center took the FIRST LEGO League tournament by storm this past Saturday. At the Kalakaua Middle School tournament, the Palamabots came in 3rd place out of 17 during the robot game, which blows their previous best of 8th out of the water!

The Palamabots designed and programmed a free, open-source, and very fun learning video game called “Aquapanic!” for the tournament’s education-innovation project. By researching St. Elizabeth’s aquaponic system, students created a simulation, where you play an aquaponic gardener. You plant pineapple cuttings, harvest fish (without overfishing!) and clean insects without insecticide, using friendly ladybugs! Aquapanic is a fun, easy, free way to learn how to grow your own healthy, organic food in a sustainable and local way.”

Here’s a link to the Aquaponic game: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/31596222/#player

State of Hawaii – Office of Community Services (OCS) Conducts Weatherization Assistance Program Monitoring

The HCAP Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) is a no-cost energy assistance program designed to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings occupied by income-eligible residents on Oahu, reduce participants’ household energy expenditures, and improve participants’ health and safety. This very important energy efficiency program is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and is administered by the State of Hawaii – Office of Community Services (OCS). Periodically, OCS seeks to observe the services provided through WAP, and to personally meet some of the HCAP clients served. Recently, Glenda Duldulao, OCS Program Specialist, traveled to the Leeward coast with HCAP staff to visit WAP households in Nanakuli and Waianae. While on-site, Glenda was able to speak with the clients and household members and witness first-hand the energy-efficient WAP installations, such as a solar water heating system, hybrid electric water heater, and Energy Star refrigerator. To learn more about WAP or to apply, please contact the nearest HCAP District Service Center.

Pictured L- R: Porscha and Robert G., Glenda Duldulao (OCS), Bob Dahilig (HCAP)

New Volunteers Brings Wealth of Experience to Leahi District

Ismael and his wife Jaslin stopped by the Leahi District Service Center to learn more about HCAP and the demographic of people that the office reaches out to. As a recent retiree, he plans on volunteering at the office once a week. Ismael served for 16 years as the Executive Director of the Truk Organization for Community Action, a Community Action Agency on the island of Chuuk. He provided community service training in various topics related to community needs (nutrition, farming, youth problems and other topics) and also provided funding for small-scale community projects like water wells, water pipes, and community centers. Leahi Community workers found it very interesting and informative to hear his experiences, feedback and comments regarding community action, especially regarding the Leahi District Office, which services many diverse Pacific Islanders.

HCAP’s First #Unselfie of the 2014 Giving Season

On December 2, 2014, HCAP will be holding its annual #GivingTuesday campaign to celebrate generosity throughout the giving season. As a relatively new calendar day dedicated to giving, #GivingTuesday creates a community that encourages others to give more, give smarter, and to celebrate the spirit of contribution.

HCAP is encouraging the act of selflessness by hosting and highlighting various program events throughout the month of November. You’ll be able to see photos of these events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and in the HCAP Weekly.

On #GivingTuesday our goal is to raise $2000 in monetary donations, with 100% of our staff contributing with a personally meaningful donation (click here to donate!). We would truly appreciate your contribution to help us reach our goal! You can also participate in HCAP’s #GivingTuesday campaign in other ways. If you’d like to donate goods, time or labor, please let us know, so we can direct you to the appropriate program.