By Misha Lawrence
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On Jan. 11, the members of the Leo Club helped kick off the New Year’s festivities with some volunteer work, working tirelessly at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and Moiliili Field.
“(The) students (were) able to practice interacting with other members of their community and build stronger personal networks while reinforcing the intrinsic motivation for helping others,” said Leo Club adviser Curtis Ogi.
The Leos had a chance to help alongside the many other vendors that the festival offered the public. Leo Club President Senior Anthony Menor said, “Overall, we were lucky enough to serve while viewing many Japanese performances. This included a Japanese lion dance, drumming performances, as well as mochi pounding demonstrations. The event’s festivities were very insightful and entertaining.”
The members offered their services and helped the festival run smoothly. “First we played a couple of games with some other Leos in the family room of the shelter as a type of bonding experience. Later, we all found our places, ready to serve veterans with their food and give them their leis,” said Junior Lesha Panoncillo.
Besides enjoying the festivities, members were also able to bond and spend time together. “Being a Leo officer, we try to get close to the members in the club,” said Panoncillo. “There’s something about service work that brings a team closer together.” Menor added, “It was a great experience, learning about the Japanese customs from them and enjoying the overall spirit of the new year.”
Despite there being less volunteers than past years, the Leos managed with the people they had and Ogi was satisfied with their work. “As far as the community turnout, it was really nice to see everyone come out and see so many families together. As for our volunteers, it was hard to get volunteers to come out to this event, so considering the smaller group of volunteers they did well and the work was good,” said Ogi. “Fortunately, the tasks at the event weren’t very difficult, but I’m always proud to see the kids helping out and seeing them take initiative when they had free time.”
The festival successfully rang in the new year with the help of the Leos. The Leo Club will continue to offer their services during the upcoming Mililani Carnival.
