West Maui Community Center Partnership Park signs unveiled

Entry signs for the West Maui Community Center Partnership Park were recently unveiled at the community center. The park project is a collaborative effort involving the Maui YMCA and the Rotary Clubs of District 5000, which includes 47 clubs located throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

The project is supported by a $250,000 contribution from the Rotary D5000 Foundation Maui Fires Relief Fund. Funding will go toward the construction of a dual modular unit that will provide youth space, office space, flexible program space and covered spaces including the community pavilion, which will serve as a community gathering hub. Vegetation, including fruit trees, will serve to create a peaceful green space and produce food.

“The West Maui YMCA Community Center Partnership Park will provide a much-needed community meeting and program space in support of positive mental health for Lahaina residents recovering from the fires of 2023,” said Steve Scraggs, chief executive officer of Maui YMCA. “The Partnership Park concept involves interior spaces for youth development programming, including tutoring, summer camps, and college and career programming.”

The new spaces will also be shared with nonprofit partners and used for kupuna, cultural and mental health programs. “With so many suffering with mental health concerns, creating a peaceful green space in Lahaina is important to this project,” organizers said.

Rotary District 5000 includes approximately 1,500 members across 47 clubs on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, and is part of a global network of 1.4 million Rotarians dedicated to creating lasting change. There are nine Rotary clubs on Maui. For more information about these clubs, contact Maui Island Resource Chair Joanne Laird at mamalrd01@gmail.com.