North Shore NewsSome of the most unsung heroes in a community are those people who, day after day, contribute their time and energy for no compensation at all to any one of numerous organizations that serve the community. If you’re fortunate enough to have even a few hours a week to contribute, your payoff is the satisfaction that you are able to give back in a way that is uniquely you. You know that you make a difference – even in a small way. Sometimes you aren’t that lucky to feel that way at the daily workplace.
If you walk into the North Shore Chamber of Commerce office and Visitor Center at 66-434B Kamehameha Highway at the entrance to Haleiwa, you’ll often find a volunteer at the desk helping with your business services needs or giving information to the stream of tourists coming in every day from every part of the world. Volunteers also support other Chamber operations and special events that can be hard work, but gratifying and fun. There is never a lack of things to do and always a need for volunteers.
One volunteer who’s been at the Visitor Center for the past six months is Kathi White, who works at the office four to five hours weekly. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, she was an art major who found work in the pharmaceutical field, but, she says, “I wanted to see what the world was like without apartheid.” She was in her early 20s then, and decided to do some island hopping and travel through Asia to learn new cultures and broaden her horizons. She ended up in Japan for a year where she taught English. When her visa expired, she moved on to Hawaii where within six months she met the man who became her husband shortly thereafter. That was in 1982. Now she is busy helping her husband run his business, Point Plumbing, and working as a real estate agent for List Sotheby’s International Realty. In the meantime, she has raised three children, now grown, with her youngest finishing university
You’d think she’d be busy enough, but she decided to volunteer because of her children. You need to give back, and she wanted to have them follow her example. She had learned that from her grandfather, a lawyer in South Africa who always found time to volunteer. Actions speak louder than words. “It’s important to show the children. I’m following up on what I said,” according to Kathi. “My kids inspired me and my own yearning. You make time.”
Joan Crossen came to the Chamber around the same time Kathi did. In fact, Joan had just started volunteering at the Visitor Center when she was desperately needed at the last minute to help out at the Chamber’s annual Christmas party at Waimea Valley immediately after her shift. Without hesitation, she agreed to help out. For her, helping at the Chamber allowed her to continue interacting with the community after working as an educational assistant for 12 years at Sunset Elementary School. “It just feels good to do it,” she says.
Joan was born and raised in Kahala. Her dad was a developer whose work took him and his family from the islands to Texas, then to California. She returned to Oahu in 2002 to raise her children because “I was raised here, and it’s the only place to raise kids.” Now she has time she can contribute to something she enjoys, and working at the Chamber has fit the bill.
In fact, Kathi sums it up this way. “Charity begins at home, so why not start right here!”
Anyone who is interested in volunteering for the Chamber may call (808) 637-4558, email info@ gonorthshore.org and/or stop by the office and talk to Director Roxana Jimenez.