CUH volunteers help fix up “Mighty Mo”

Chaminade kicks of the 2nd annual 50,000 Hours community service campaign

Photos and story by Kapono Ryan

Last Saturday morning, a group of Chaminade students, faculty, staff and family members kicked off the 2nd annual “50,000 Hours” community service campaign by scrubbing the decks of the “Mighty Mo.” The maintenance assignment which included sanding, scraping and painting duties on the U.S.S. Missouri.

The Corporation for National and Community Service recently named Chaminade to President George W. Bush’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Selected as a President’s Higher Education Community Service Award Finalist for Excellence in General Community Service, the University was recognized for its outstanding work in curricular and co-curricular service-learning efforts, exemplary volunteer opportunities, efforts specific to Hurricane Katrina and its institutionalized commitment to service and volunteerism.

The Honor Roll is co-sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education associations. More than 1.1 million students from Honor Roll schools participated in local community service activities, and more than 219,000 students provided hurricane relief.

The awards were created in response to the mid-October release of the Corporation for National and Community Service comprehensive report, “College Students Helping America,” which shows college student civic engagement rising significantly in recent years. The study, using data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that student volunteering increased approximately 20 percent from 2002 to 2005, and that 3.3 million college students currently serve their communities and nation.

The Chaminade ‘ohana is not only serving the Oahu community this Saturday, but Chaminade Silversword men’s basketball players and Rotoract students also held the basketball Hoops Clinic for youth on Maui, which is a pre-Maui Invitational Tournament community service event. “Service is just ingrained in how we do things at Chaminade,” said Bro. Tom Spring, coordinator of the 50,000 Hours campaign.