The Department of Environmental Services of the City and County of Honolulu recognized Navy Region Hawaii at the 2008 Earth Month Awards during a presentation ceremony on March 17 at Kapolei Hale.

Navy Region Hawaii was one of 61 organizations that received "good neighbor awards" at the presentation due to its numerous community outreach projects and participation in the Department of Environmental Services' Adopt-A-Stream and Adopt-A-Block programs this past year.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann was on hand to personally thank the "every day environmental heroes" whose volunteer efforts have helped make the island he calls home a better place to live.

"As citizens of Hawaii, we should be leading the country in environmental efforts. Every day should be an Earth Day," he said proudly. "But the government cannot do this alone. What we can do is provide collaborative partnerships that go a long way, especially with your [volunteer efforts] driving us."

Recipients who accepted the "good neighbor award" on behalf of the Navy were Capt. Taylor Skardon, commanding officer, Naval Station Pearl Harbor; Chief Culinary Specialist (SW/AW) Adeline Lopes, Fleet Family Readiness Program, who coordinated volunteers for community outreach programs; Senior Chief Gunner's Mate (SW) Danilo Boyles, Navy Munitions Command East Asia Division Detachment Pearl Harbor; Chief Personnel Specialist (SW) Michael Baines, Afloat Training Group Middle Pacific (ATG MIDPAC); and Ship's Serviceman 1st Class (SW) Lovejoy Aquino, ATG MIDPAC, who volunteered their help with various projects.

Aquino was one of 100 Sailors from various commands who participated in a bike path cleanup project last April. The volunteers picked up trash and debris along the historic 13.5 mile bike path that runs along Pearl Harbor's waterfront.

"I personally enjoy community relations projects and giving back to the community," said the San Diego native. "This was one way to do that. I would encourage others to participate because it not only displays a positive image for the Navy, it left me very fulfilled. It's just a good thing to do."

Lopes said her participation with the Navy's community outreach programs included coordinating more than 625 volunteers for about 26 different community projects in the past two years.

"It's important that the [Navy community] maintain a clean environment," she said. "I think the Navy has done a good job of showing support to the Hawaiian community with these [community] efforts."

Skardon said he was proud to see his Sailors become more involved with the Hawaiian community.

"We encourage our Sailors to get out in the community and work to clean up a city everybody uses," he said. "Our goal is to make Hawaii a clean and safe place, not just for the military but for other families on the island."

Skardon noted the Navy has become a "good neighbor" to the island because it believes the Hawaiian culture is a tremendous asset to the naval community.

"We've maintained a good relationship with the [Hawaiian] community because they are our neighbors and we want to be good neighbors," he said. "The Hawaiian community and culture is filled with wonderful people and beautiful places. It definitely has a lot to offer all of our Sailors."

At the end of his speech, Hannemann closed with an old proverb reflecting ancient Hawaiian philosophy that encourages preserving a rich environmental legacy for future generations. "The earth was not given to us by our parents," he noted. "It was loaned to us by our children," he added.