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Marines Give Back

By Walter Makaula

HONOLULU (KHNL)--Marines unite to give back to the community and address the need for public housing.

More than a hundred marines volunteered their time to refurbish two and a half dozen public housing units.

A homes just need a little soap, some paint, and a whole lot of elbow grease. So, when the Aloha United Way needed a few good men, the marine's were front and center.

Second Lieutenant Mark Beaudette said, "What we decided to do was link up with the United Way and see what they had out for projects."

What they found wasn't a small job. The guys from 1st battalion, 3rd marine regiment at Kaneohe helped to refurbish 10 residential units in the Punchbowl Home building, plus 20 more in the Pumehana and Makamae public housing.

Beaudette said, "The goal was to have all 30 of them completed by the end of the day tomorrow so that they're livable by the end of the day."

The 30 renovated homes will go to seniors and people with disabilities. Because there's a shortage of public housing for people in need, this public service project couldn't have come at a better time.

Judith Cantil of The Aloha United Way said she doesn't know how the work would have been done if not for these volunteers.

"Although the state had the supplies to refurbish these units, they really didn't have the man power to do it."

The volunteers find a way to continue giving back to the community, even as they prepare to be deployed to Iraq.

Before leaving for California for training next month, and eventually to the middle east, the marines are pitching in with six other projects which include cleaning up Waimanalo beach, and improving a playground at a local pre-school.