Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 5, 1 Mei 1985 — Nanakuli Youngster Spends Her Time in Community Work [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Nanakuli Youngster Spends Her Time in Community Work

Roxanne Keliikipi Maynes, 17, is a junior at Nanakuli High Schooi who is not your usual teenager. What makes her a little different from today's teenage crowd? lt has been a little over 18 months now that Roxanne has given her time and energy to her community through the American Red Cross Young Volunteers in Action, a program initiated and directed by VISTA volunteer Diane Larson of Lualualei.

"The purpose of YVA is for our youths to get on the job training so that when they are pau with high school, they are more secure in looking for work or going to college," Hanson explained. "lt gives them a community awareness," she added. Larson said Roxanne ean be called the "senior" member of her volunteer corps because she has given 900 hours of community work since the program's inception nearly two years ago.

Roxanne, a part Hawaiian, works in the emergency room of the Waianae Comprehensive Health Center on weekends, visits the elderly on special days, participates in many eommunity projects and functions, prepares emergency first aid kits and also works in the ARC Leeward office. "Its a hobby for me. I like meeting and helping people," was the response from Roxanne when asked by Ka Wai Ola O OHA why she keeps such a busy volunteer schedule. Roxanne, who has a younger brother and sister, has eollege in her future and wants to study community relations. She also hopes to save enough money over the summer so she ean finish her senior year at Hawaiian Mission Academy where she was a former student.

Larson said the kind of work performed by Roxanne and 60 other youths in YVA is a big savings to the community even by today's minimum wage standard. Her crew has totaled nearly 8,000 hours of community service in the past 18 months. Larson added she welcomes more agencies who need a helping hand from her corps of youngsters. The telephone number is 696-6967. She explained that the success of YVA has prompted her to start a similar movement among the adults.

Diane Larson, left, and Roxanne Maynes take a breather during pa'ina at Mauna Olu in Makaha for May Experience speakers' bureau. Larson and her Young Volunteers in Action group decorated the tables, strung leis and waited on guests. The pa'ina was one of many functions on the Waianae coast involving Roxanne and her cohorts.