Community Information

200 Strong Represent Local 675 at the Great Aloha Run

Jasmyne Thiel (appr steamfitter welder – HSI Mechanical) and family enjoying the Great Aloha Run on Presidents' Day

The 36th Annual GAR kick-started at Aloha Tower for an 8.15-mile fun run ending at Aloha Stadium. The first runner to cross the doorway of our Aloha Stadium Hospitality Room for Local 675 was Kainalu Pagente, the 17-year old son of Shane and Carmel Pagente. He has been doing the run for the last 5 years with his whole family. Coming in at 56 minutes and 47 seconds, Kainalu said, "It helps that I'm in cross country and track at Pearl City High School." His father Shane, and uncles Dwayne and Shannon are Local 675 members.

The annual run, sponsored by Hawaii Pacific Health, raised more than $250,000 for charities. "All the money is staying in Hawaii and it will be going to 50 different charities in Hawaii, throughout the state of Hawaii," said Carole Kai, co-founder of the race. Our own Randy Hiraki, member and contractor sits on the Board for GAR, contributing and participating in the annual event with fellow members and families of Commercial Plumbing.

"More than 13,000 people participated in the GAR, and of that we were about 200 strong in our participation as a 100 Club member for a worthy cause. Everyone got their hearts pumping and their body workout. We were also happy to see our members and families wearing the new dri-fit shirts the Union provided," said Business Manager Val Ceria as he greeted each person at the Hospitality Room enjoying their breakfast.

Ted Kaneshiro (AC journeyman – Alaka`i Mechanical) and family at the Aloha Stadium’s Hospitality Room
Alaka'i Mechanical A/C journeyman, Ted Kaneshiro and his wife Lisa came in at 1 hour and 11 minutes. Sons, Shane (14 yrs) and Cy (12 yrs), came in at 1 hour 32 seconds and 1 hour 20 minutes, respectively. They have been doing the race as a family for the past 3 years.

Troy Sakamoto with Economy Plumbing, wife Tanya, came in a little over 2 hours and son Shellen, 1 hour 51 minutes, were first-timers. Brother Troy said it was a lot of fun and would happily do it again next year.

Dorvin Lei's Scott Saito-Takabayashi finished under 2 hours. He said he flew in from Maui with his wife and son and met up with his in-laws to do the run. As a tradition, they have been doing this as a family for the past 9 years.

Robin Ganir, A/C member from Maui whose last company was Johnson Controls, and fiancé Angie Watanabe came in just under 3 hours. This was their first and said, "It was worth flying in to do the run since we enjoyed it a lot. We're grateful for the Union sponsoring our run, the breakfast and for the shirts too. We look forward to doing this again next year!"

Members, families and friends relaxing at the Union-sponsored breakfast at the Aloha Stadium Hospitality Room after the Great Aloha Fun Run. More photos available here.

Published: April 16th, 2020

Labor of Love

Business Agent Sam Barrett, Jr. beamed with pride when he received on behalf of Local 675,
the "mahalo" artwork from students of Kalihi Elemenary School

Each year the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Labor Community Services Program chooses a public school to improve their campus through its "Labor of Love" event. This year there were 533 volunteers from various unions who came out on Saturday, January 25th to Kalihi Elementary School.

Kalihi Elementary School Principal, William Grindell mentioned that the heart of the school is the cafeteria where they hold community celebrations and functions, and hold their graduations. The cafeteria received new fans, a new paint job and a new dishwasher among other campus improvements.

Business Manager Val Ceria stated, "With the help from Brother Sam Barrett, Jr., the Union was able to install the much needed dishwasher for the school's cafeteria." Brother Sam added, "Since the installation, Kalihi Elementary was able to convert to metal utensils for the students which will significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastics they go through."

Bus Mgr Val Ceria and Bus Agent Sam Barrett, Jr. attended the Mahalo event at Kalihi Elementary School
for the "Labor of Love" Program sponsored by the Hawaii State AFL-CIO
The total value of the contribution to Kalihi Elementary School was over $130,000. Cathy Lederer who helped organize the event said, "It was amazing to see how much can be accomplished in a few hours when people come together!" Along with Cathy, Randy Perreira, President of the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, thanked the Union Affiliates and everyone who came out and gave back to the community.

Published: April 20th, 2020