Last year’s Yale Day of Service was a success, with students and teachers from Sacred Hearts School, current Yale students and many dedicated, hardworking members of the public helping to restore Honokowai Valley.

WEST MAUI – Every year, Yale alumni, friends and families come together all over the world through the common act of providing service to others.

Here in West Maui, the Yale Day of Service: Honokowai Valley with Maui Cultural Lands is scheduled for Saturday, May 12.

Open to the public, the event is slated for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Volunteers will meet at 1 Puukolii Road in Kaanapali. Trucks will then take them to the cultural work site in Honokowai Valley.

Some hiking is necessary to get down into the valley.

Honokowai Valley is being revitalized by the leaders and volunteers of Maui Cultural Lands.

Maintenance of this special cultural site requires constant invasive species control and vigilance.

This event will allow volunteers the opportunity to visit a spectacular environmental and cultural site and to support its revival and restoration through weed control, native plantings and maintenance.

Volunteers can expect to get dirty, work hard, learn a lot and enjoy being out in nature – “off the beaten track.”

Weeding, gardening, planting and invasive species control skills are welcomed.

The work can be strenuous and the ride up bumpy, so make sure you are physically fit for such work and conditions before joining this event. This site is not handicap accessible.

Feel free to bring your own gardening gloves and tools, but tools and gloves will be provided onsite.

A paper bag lunch will be graciously provided, for the second year in a row, by the famous Kimo’s Restaurant.

For more information on the site and Maui Cultural Lands, visit mauiculturallands.org/ or find them on Facebook and Instagram @mauiculturallands.

Organizer Mariah Gill graduated from Lahainaluna High School before continuing on to earn her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and her Master of Environmental Management Degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

She is happy to host this service event for the second year in a row with the help of the Yale Club of Hawaii, Kimo’s Restaurant, Maui Cultural Lands, and Yale Blue Green.

Participation will be capped at 40 volunteers.

Register at yaledayofservice.org; select “Maui, Lahaina: Honokowai Valley with Maui Cultural Lands” to secure your lunch.

Registration is not required but is necessary to ensure there are enough lunches for everyone.