Marriott hotels in Wailea earn Adopt-A-Highway award

A hui of three Marriott properties in Wailea has received the Nō Ka ʻOi Highway Hui Adopt-A-Highway Award from the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, Highways Maui District, in recognition of their collaborative community care efforts.

The Wailea Beach Resort, Residence Inn, and AC Hotel in Wailea have been working together for several years to care for a section of Pi‘ilani Highway between mileposts 5.5 and 7.5, organizing quarterly cleanup events and coordinating with team members across their properties. Since 2018, employees of the three properties have devoted hundreds of volunteer hours to Maui’s Adopt-A-Highway public service program and collectively removed more than 450 bags of trash.

“We really appreciate being recognized for our efforts – we all live here, this is our ʻāina, so we all want to take care of it,” said Nani Kaina, director of services, Wailea Beach Resort.

“We show up each quarter to the highway clean up, not just to check the box and say we do community service and fulfill Marriott’s serve 360 goal, but because we care about our community and we want others to see we care,” said Donjon Baclig, dual chief engineer at AC Hotel and Residence Inn. “We want to keep the highways clean so our visitors see that we care about our environment and that they should too.”

“Depending on wind and weather conditions as well as traffic patterns, trash tends to accumulate along some roadways more than others. Pi‘ilani Highway can be challenging, which is why we appreciate the ongoing volunteerism and support of the Marriott hotels in Wailea,” said Ty Fukuroku, program manager of Environmental Management, Highways Maui District. “By coordinating across their properties, they’ve made a positive difference in protecting our island environment.”

Adopt-A-Highway is a public service program that works with volunteers to remove trash from along Hawaiʻi’s state highways and help prevent litter and other pollutants from blowing or flowing into the ocean and other bodies of water. Volunteer groups commit to adopting a two-mile segment of a state highway for a minimum of two years, pick up litter on their section of the highway at least four times per year, and undergo safety training before each cleanup event.

Organizations in Maui County interested in signing up for Adopt-A-Highway can search for available highway segments at Highways Maui District’s stormwater website, www.stormwatermaui.com. Applications, cleanup forms, a safety training video, and program information are also available on the website. Adopt-A-Highway groups receive support from Highways Maui District in the form of cleanup supplies, safety training and the group’s name printed on a highway sign.