Rotary Club of Maui earns Adopt-A-Highway award for public service

The Rotary Club of Maui has received the Adopt-A-Highway Nō Ka ʻOi Highway Hui Award from the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, Highways Maui District, in recognition of the club’s “small but mighty” volunteer impact.

Based in Kula, the Rotary Club of Maui cares for a two-mile stretch of Kula Highway in Kēōkea, between mileposts 16 and 18. The group organizes at least four cleanups each year.

“Of the roughly 160 groups that volunteer for Adopt-A-Highway in Maui County, Rotary Club of Maui is one of the smaller ones, but their positive attitude and deep dedication have really had an outsized impact,” said Ty Fukuroku, program manager of environmental management, Highways Maui District. “They are among the most reliable in carrying out their cleanups, and they’ve attracted others who are not Rotary members to join their cleanups. We’re very pleased to offer this award as a mahalo for their continual service.”

Rotary Club of Maui is part of Rotary International, a global network of volunteers dedicated to strengthening communities by championing peace, fighting poverty, promoting education and health and protecting the environment. According to Maui Rotarian Heather Mueller, the Adopt-A-Highway program fits in well with Rotary’s mission.

“Rotary has different themes every month. For example, August is Literacy Month. September is Membership Month. And then we have Women and Children’s Health Month, and we have Peace Month,” Mueller said. “In the spring, we always have Stewardship of the Earth. So, attempting to improve the environment is very much within our goals for Rotary over the year.”

“It just feels good to help the environment. Everyone puts in 100%. There’s a very, very strong community in Kula,” Mueller said.

Club member Captain Michael Lilly, USN (Ret.), added, “A lot of us and the volunteers live right here, and they join us (at our cleanups) because this is their neighborhood, their ‘ohana.”

In addition to community-focused entities like the Rotary Club of Maui, Adopt-A-Highway groups include businesses of various sizes, churches, schools, youth organizations, other nonprofits and families. 

In 2025, Adopt-A-Highway groups in Maui County collectively carried out 141 cleanups, involving nearly 1,600 volunteers who removed 1,740 bags of trash – helping prevent litter from potentially entering the ocean and other natural ecosystems.

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.