Friend of the Valley

Kelly Perry loves working with volunteers who help maintain the beauty of Waimea Valley

Kelly Perry Title: Volunteer coordinator Job: Oversees the activities of volunteers at the Waimea Valley Audubon Center

Kelly Perry grew up and still lives in Waialua on Oahu's North Shore, and now has the good fortune to work at the nearby Waimea Valley Audubon Center. Employed by the National Audubon Society, which manages the park for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Perry coordinates the activities of the hundreds of volunteers who help maintain the valley's botanical, ecological and cultural assets. She took on the job three years ago, after working 10 years as an environmental educator for the Hawaii Nature Center in Makiki. Working with nature has always been a priority for Perry. In college, at the University of Hawaii, she earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies, focusing on marine mammals. "I was really interested in humpback whales," she said. "And I see them every day on my way home." Perry, 41, is married to Kama Perry, with whom she has two sons, ages 12 and 8, and a daughter, age 17. "They're some of my best-trained volunteers," she said of her husband and children.

Question: In what way do you work with volunteers?

Answer: Gosh ... I'm responsible for going out to the community and recruiting them. I work with staff to determine the volunteer needs, and I interview volunteers and match them up with appropriate volunteer positions in the valley.

There are many ways volunteers help us here -- in the botanical gardens as docents for education programs; we have conservation projects that they help us with; we have greeters; we have people in the information kiosk; they help us with the facilities projects, like painting. So anything we do here, we need help from volunteers.

Also our cultural sites. Very important. We have groups that come here every month to help with maintaining the cultural sites.

Q: What kind of cultural sites?

A: We have ancient Hawaiian living sites. We have Hale O Lono heiau, the House of Lono. These are ancient Hawaiian sites, built by the Hawaiians. Waimea has many significant heritage sites. The Hale O Lono is the one when you first drive in to the valley; you can see it from the parking.

Q: Are many of the volunteers students, who get credit for their schooling?

A: We get all types. We get a lot of calls from high school students that need to fulfill a service requirement -- and it's always good if the student calls and not the parent. (Laughter) I encourage that, and most volunteer coordinators do. You'd be surprised how many parents call on behalf of their kids.

We can accommodate a wide variety of groups of volunteers, because our site is so huge. We have a large botanical gardens, with 150 acres, that we need help caring for. So it's a great site for large groups.

We've had church groups, the U.H. Richardson Law School alumni came out. We have groups from Waianae, like the Ho'omau Ke Ola; they've been a consistent presence, helping to care for the cultural sites, and they come all the way from Waianae.

And then we have school groups that come. We also have traveling service groups that travel around the United States. We've had groups from the East Coast and from Japan. Part of what they do is travel. So that's helpful to us.

Q: How do they find out about you?

A: They find out through the Web, usually. And then we have the community members -- our regular weekly volunteers -- who come from all over the island: Kailua to Haleiwa to Wahiawa, all over.

Q: When you say "through the Web," what is keyword -- the National Audubon Society or the Waimea Valley Audubon Center?

A: They probably look up Volunteer Hawaii ... a Web site that lists all the volunteer opportunities in Hawaii. And then you can determine if a site is appropriate for your volunteer group.

Q: Are any of the volunteers people doing community service under court order?

A: The Audubon does background checks on volunteers and staff, because we're a public venue and we have to be concerned about public safety, so that's a little tricky. But I've never been asked. So it would just depend on what the offense was and all that. We want to be sure it's a good match.

Q: How many people visit the park each day?

A: About 500. And then in the summer time it could average about a thousand.

We have volunteers called the na po'e kokua -- that means "the people helpers" -- and they're out roaming the main part of the valley, making sure people's questions are answered. They have a radio in case there's an emergency. And they're out there to help people.

Q: What kind of people, mostly, visit the park?

A: We get a lot of community people, because we have family programs now for the community, and we get people that are traveling, tourists.

Q: So what would you say is the big attraction about the park?

A: The waterfall. (Laughter)

Q: Do they still have those people who dive off the cliff by the waterfall?

A: No. But you can swim there. We have lifeguards, but there is no cliff diving. One of the things Audubon is trying to provide for the community is other ways to enjoy the valley other than making a beeline for the waterfall.

Q: Like what?

A: Family adventure backpacks, interpretive walks in the native Hawaiian plant garden and in the ancient Hawaiian living sites ...

Q: What's the situation at the park these days? Who owns it and who runs it?

A: OHA (the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs) is the landlord; they have the title to the property. Audubon is doing the day-to-day managing for now.

Q: That's going to change?

A: Yes. When that is going to change, I don't know.

Q: But you'll be there no matter what happens?

A: I don't know. But hopefully there will always be volunteer involvement in Waimea. We have about 10,000 hours of volunteer work here a year; we average about 200 volunteers coming through here every month, so the community is really thrilled with being able to come into the valley and help out. So that's something I think should be continued.

Q: How long have you worked at the park?

A: The three years that Audubon has been here. I grew up in Waialua. Went to Waialua High School -- the Bulldogs.

Q: I thought Kaimuki High was the Bulldogs.

A: They might be as well.

Q: Do you live near the park?

A: I do. I live in Waialua.

Q: How long have you worked for the National Audubon Society?

A: Just the three years that it's been managing Waimea. But I've always worked with nonprofits and with volunteers.

Q: What were you doing before you started working at the park?

A: I was an environmental educator at a nature center.

Q: Where was that?

A: Makiki.

Q: That's a long drive from Waialua.

A: Yes. (Laughter) I'm happy to not be doing it any more. Ten years was enough.

Q: When you're out working in the park, do you ever get bitten by mosquitoes or run into feral pigs or anything like that?

A: (Laughter) Funny you should mention that. I ran into one (a feral pig) on Saturday. But it ran the other way. Mosquitoes don't bother me, but maybe it has something to do with karma, I don't know.

Q: When you're doing office work, what kind of work would that be?

A: Oh, just planning for groups that are coming; figuring out the tools they're going to need; working with staff in other departments, figuring out where the highest priorities are, and that the staff has the support for working with the volunteers if they're new; answering volunteer inquiries.

One of the easiest parts of this job is the recruitment. Because the valley has its own way of recruiting people, I don't have to actively go out and recruit. It can be a hard part of the job, but for me, I just have to keep them (the volunteers) happy and provide learning opportunities for them.

Q: What's the best part of your job?

A: The volunteers, and being able to provide a meaningful experience for the volunteers when they're here.

And I know that's working when they come back, whether it's learning, or spiritual or just giving back to the community.

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