Baha’is named as champion of Adopt-A-Highway Dash for Trash

The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Wailuku has been named the champion of this year’s Adopt-A-Highway Dash for Trash, an annual public service competition sponsored by the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, Highways Maui District.

This year’s event spanned the months of April and May and rewarded participants for the number of bags of trash collected per volunteer, giving smaller groups like Baha’is of Wailuku as much of a chance as larger ones to win the friendly, good-for-the-environment competition. Baha’is of Wailuku conducted two highway cleanups in April, removing trash from their adopted segment along Maui Veterans Highway between Mileposts 4 and 6.4.

Baha’is of Wailuku member Nima Haghbin highlighted the environment and community as the group’s primary motivations for their ongoing highway cleanups.

“We love our environment, it doesn’t look nice when the trash is all around,” he said, “And we’re here to serve our community in whatever way or capacity that we have. Whether that’s highway cleanups or providing children’s activities or anything where we provide service to the community.”

Over the course of this year’s Dash for Trash, Baha’is of Wailuku was joined by hundreds of other like-minded Adopt-A-Highway volunteers. In all, 275 volunteers belonging to 20 Adopt-A-Highway groups participated in 23 cleanups in April and May, removing more than 300 bags of trash from along more than 40 miles of state highway on Maui.

“Adopt-A-Highway depends on awesome volunteers who recognize the importance of giving back to the community and doing what we can to protect our islands’ environment,” said Ty Fukuroku, program manager of Environmental Management, Highways Maui District.

Previous Dash for Trash winners include Kamehameha Schools (2025) and Bayer Maui (2024). The full 2026 leaderboard is available at the Dash for Trash webpage.

Adopt-A-Highway is a public service program that works with volunteers to remove trash from along Hawaii’s State Highways and help prevent litter and other pollutants from getting into the ocean or streams. Volunteer groups commit to adopting a 2-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 the Maui District’s Adopt-A-Highway webpage. Applications, cleanup forms, a safety training video and program information are also available. 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.