The island of Oahu, Hawaii, recently got a little bit brighter — and cleaner.
Ellie Burton, a freshman at Punahou High School, and Ian Stevens, a junior at Kaiser High School, came together earlier this year with the intention of completing service projects in their community, as well as bring youth together through acts of service. Ellie and Ian, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took the initiative to start JustServe clubs at their respective high schools, Punahou and Kaiser, encouraging students to participate in community service projects.
Months later, they were critical parts in breaking a record on Oahu, and collecting 1,100 pounds of trash on Sand Island Beach in a single day this fall.
In May, Ellie and Ian organized several beach cleanup sessions together with the Global Preservation Initiative. They gathered a few friends and started serving the Lord and others in their local sphere.
“We were able to clean up the Hawaii Kai Ward’s Sandy Beach, and in less than an hour removed over 60 pounds of trash, while having fun with our friends,” said Ellie. She added that to their surprise, the event exceeded the Initiative’s goal of 50 pounds collected a day.
A few months later — and with an official JustServe club — on Sept. 21, Ellie, Ian and about 40 volunteers who were primarily high school students from Punahou High School and other area high schools, which also had their JustServe clubs represented, collected 740 pounds of trash at Sand Island Beach. That broke the previous island record of 680 pounds of trash collected in one day.
“It was very rewarding to plan and execute this service project with lots of great people from our community,” said Ian.
JustServe is a free website and app where community organizations list their service needs and where volunteers can find service opportunities around them.
Momentum and enthusiasm for service only continued to grow.
On Nov. 2, Ellie, Ian and more than 100 volunteers collected over 1,100 pounds of trash in a singular day — beating their own record of 740 pounds. The volunteers included more than 60 youth in Oahu who came together from four high schools: Roosevelt, Punahou, Kaiser and Farrington. The beach cleanup was 100% student-led.
“This shows the tremendous positive impact we can make when we work together,” said Aaron Magee, founder of the Global Preservation Initiative.
When he heard of the club’s success, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green shared his gratitude for their work with local Church members.
“I just want to say thank you to JustServe. Your youth leadership is extraordinary. To collect 1,100 pounds of debris makes nature more appealing to all of us and makes our spectacular paradise even that much more special. Thank you for being such great young men and women. Aloha,” he said.
Ryan Tanaka, a local Church member and business leader, sponsored the JustServe club. Tanaka provided funds for over 200 JustServe shirts for the youth as well as dinner for more than 100 volunteers who participated in the beach cleanup on Nov. 2.
Tanaka with other adult supporters — retired Judge Bode Uale and his wife, Beth Uale — spoke at the event, comprising both the cleanup and dinner, encouraging youth to push forward and be leaders.
Bode Uale said: “It was so inspiring to see youth show up of their own accord to do service. They seem to exude love and happiness. You could easily see that in their eyes and faces. It was an honor to share with them my thoughts on youth service.”
Magee said: “It was inspiring to be a part of an event made possible by the effort and contribution of these youth. It is essential to involve the next generation in caring for our communities through service to instill a sense of collective action, which ultimately is what creates impactful lasting change.”
With so much success among their high school friends and youth members, Ellie and Ian decided to take their love for service one step further.
Ellie and Ian led a training for local youth and leaders — including a stake president, bishops, JustServe adult leaders from throughout the island, and youth from the tri-stake area — with eight other youth on Sept. 15. Every chair was filled. The back of the room was filled with people standing to see the presentation. Students fielded questions, shared pictures from past events and shared their experiences of service.
Honolulu Hawaii Stake President Paul Kurihara said, “As we witness youth leading youth, we realize that youth are inborn leaders, spiritual sons and daughters of God waiting to shine.”
Ellie also gave a talk to her ward about the mission of JustServe and how the youth are getting involved.
Beth Uale said: “There is always strength in numbers. When so many youth work together for good it makes a powerful impact. I appreciate all of the youth who gave of their time to be of service at the beach cleanup project. I hope the experience inspires them to continue serving and to extend and invitation to friends and classmates to join them for the next project.”
By the fall, the JustServe club was approved at Punahou High School and there were over 170 students who signed up in one day at club rush on Sept. 26.
Ellie said: “I am looking forward to continuing to help our youth and ward get more involved in the JustServe organization and service projects. JustServe is such an amazing and unique tool that we can all take advantage of to give back to the community.”
Editor’s note: This was updated on Nov. 27, 2024, with the comments from
