Lahaina, HI – Apr. 5- 11, 2026

A new set of long-term volunteers arrived over the weekend, and we were joined by our ‘weekly’ volunteers on Monday – they celebrated Easter at home and used Monday as their travel day.  Though weather predictions seemed to carry the possibility of another Kona storm (heavy rain, flooding), we enjoyed sunshine & warm temps for the first part of the week.  The last couple of days offered a few showers, but nothing major – and a breeze has blown almost the entire time.

Our team now includes folks from all over – many from the Visalia Neighborhood Church, plus several from the surrounding area (California).  The rest of us span: Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alaska, New York, Indiana, and Germany!

The Asuncion House has received a lot of drywall work this week. We hope another day will pretty much close up the walls for an inspection on Tuesday.

At the Hoopia House, our volunteers mudded and sanded, then mudded and sanded; and then a bit more mudding & sanding.  On Friday, they started priming the walls, and we are excited to begin thinking about the finish phase of this house (wish you were with us on the back porch to marvel at the view over the ocean).

Phil, Clara, & Valerie worked on building a picnic table for one of our homeowners.  The homeowner previously had one, and many of the neighbors would gather there often. Sadly, the original picnic table disappeared, so he asked if we would be able to provide one.  Our folks started in the morning and finished it in the afternoon! It will be taken to the homeowner soon.

At camp, Mitch and Coalman (aka Steve Sanderson) designed and built a Ladder Golf game (Mitch brought a set of Bolas he had made at home) for our volunteers to enjoy. The arrival of Tim and his love of pickleball will add yet another evening and weekend activity.