With trash bags and paintbrushes, volunteers beautify Chinatown

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - More than 100 volunteers painted over graffiti in Chinatown Saturday morning.

Joining in on the clean-up efforts, teenagers from HPD’s Explorer program.

“For the kids themselves, it creates a state of mind of to make a difference is take something from yourself and do for others, think of others before yourself,” Law Enforcement Explorer Program Advisor Cody Koanui said.

It’s a way for teens interested in a career in law enforcement to get involved in the community.

“And there’s a lot of people that did come up to my group and just said like thank you, guys, for doing this, so it felt good to know that we’re helping them out too,” Law Enforcement Explorer Sergeant Amaya Sanchez said.

The event is part of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s efforts to beautify Chinatown and make it more family-friendly.