Amazing Details

Hawaii Summer Community Service Program for Teenagers

A Glance at our Service

Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii

Also known as "The Positive Place for Kids", the Boys & Girls Club is dedicated to helping and inspiring Hawaii's youth to become responsible citizens. They provide a safe environment for guidance-oriented programs in character development, education, technology, health and life skills, the arts, and sports, fitness and recreation. Each year, the Club provides service to nearly 10,000 children, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Use your creativity to plan and implement day camp activities for these children, ranging from soccer and basketball to art, drama and reading. Serve as a role model for youth who come to the center for guidance and recreation. Working with both the Honolulu and Maui branches of the Club shows the scope of its impact and promises to be a rewarding experience and a trip highlight.

Habitat for Humanity

Hawaii is a paradise to visit. However like many tropical islands, booming tourism threatens the fragile environment. Additionally the economic benefits fall unevenly and there are many working poor. We have helped Habitat for Humanity (HFH) confront both these challenges. We assisted in building affordable homes, working alongside the families who were to live in them. They relied on our support and our days helping were incredibly rewarding. We also helped HFH decrease the impact on the land by participating in a Green Building Project that reduced waste - useful materials were given new life, instead of being deposited in a landfill; we built benches, picnic tables and other items using scrap wood from a job site.

ECO Maui

ECO Maui in the Iao Valley fosters appreciation of Hawaii’s natural environment. Did you know that 90% of Hawaii’s plant and animal species are found nowhere else on Earth? We learn from our expert about environmental stewardship – to lessen our impact on the delicate environment of Maui and other fragile ecosystems.

Past groups restored ruins of costal lands dating back a thousand years and built walls and barriers to protect vulnerable land from human devastation. We have also built a boardwalk and planted taro allowing us to give back to our host island.

Read to Me

Read To Me International has a simple yet profound mission of addressing the literacy needs of children by sharing the love and joy of reading aloud. Our group adapted four favorite childhood books into plays that were performed at local hospitals and community centers. We also had the opportunity to sit one-on-one with the young audience and read to them.

Adventure Highlights

Honolulu

Honolulu is a cosmopolitan city, rich in history, set on the island of Oahu which is an adventurer’s dream – so there is something for everyone!

Diamond Head is one of the most famous volcanic craters in the world. Get ready for the ultimate hike - 99 steps and a 225-foot flashlight-lit tunnel will bring you to breathtaking views of the entire west side of Oahu.

Set sail on a real ocean adventure! Hop on a catamaran and let your professional guides lead you on an enjoyable trip. Return to shore and learn to the ride the waves during surfing instruction on Waikiki Beach.

Check out artisan crafts under a canopy of palm trees at the International Marketplace, and step into the past to pay respects at the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor memorials. Body-surf in Hawaii’s only mega wave pool at Wet 'n' Wild water park.

Maui

Sail and snorkel among 250 species of tropical fish – most are not found anywhere else in the world! Can you imagine any better place to learn to ride the waves than the beaches of Kihei, Maui? Spend a morning with professional instructors who will have you up and hanging ten in no time.

Learn to thread your own leis with real flowers and dance like a Hawaiian during hula lessons. Compare your moves to the real thing at our final luau banquet where you reflect back with close new friends on all you have accomplished and shared together.

And on the 25 day program only: Soar through trees for a bird’s eye view of waterfalls on your canopy zip-line adventure in Haleakala National Park, and enjoy a kayak trip exploring Wailea’s beautiful coastline.