Malama Maui Nui invites volunteers to “be the bridge from mauka to makai” during the month of April.

As part of Keep America Beautiful’s annual Great American Cleanup (GAC), MMN encourages local volunteers, churches, organizations and businesses to form their own block cleanups from April 1-30.

Since most residential areas on Maui are located between the protected ecosystems of the upper elevations above and ocean below, Malama Maui Nui believes it’s important for residents to create mauka-makai bridges in their neighborhoods to ensure ecosystems thrive.

“The GAC is an incredible opportunity for all of us to participate in positive change in our community. Every year I find myself so inspired by the way our community comes together to cleanup and help each other out to protect the unique resources of our islands,” said Gabrielle Schuerger, Malama Maui Nui’s interim executive director.

Entering its 19th year, Keep America Beautiful’s GAC is the nation’s largest community improvement program. It launches each spring and lasts through the fall in more than 20,000 communities across the country.

Malama Maui Nui, Maui’s own environmental protection organization, is using the Great American Cleanup as an opportunity to challenge all Maui residents to help keep our oceans and watersheds clean from litter and pollution.

The kickoff event for the GAC on Maui will be a Kwong Fook Tong Cemetery Cleanup on April 1 from 8 a.m. to noon. Interested participants in the 2017 GAC should sign up at malamamauinui.ivolunteer.com/#1 or visit malamamauinui.org/volunteer-maui/ and click on the iVolunteer link. For more information, call Malama Maui Nui at 877-2524.

This is a great opportunity for community groups, school clubs, sports teams and other organizations to rally together and coordinate a cleanup, recycling event or beautification project to support the health of our environment. What will inspire you to act?