West Oahu Newsmakers

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Kathy Custer and Emmanuel Munoz volunteer at a recent Special Olympics competition at Waiau District Park. Photo from Emmanuel Munoz.

Athletes and their families gathered last month at a two-day Special Olympics event, the Aukake Classic, at Waiau District Park in Pearl City. Also present were volunteers, including Kathy Custer and Emmanuel Munoz (pictured below). They distributed lunches to the hungry athletes, coaches and other volunteers.

And this isn’t the only good deed that Custer performed. She also is the founder of Keiki Sitters, a local service that helps connect parents with baby-sitters. Custer started the business four years ago and now has a staff of more than 300 sitters. Ten percent of all profit from Keiki Sitters goes to local charities. The service is qualified to care for children with special needs. For more information on the service, visit keikisitters.com.

Lisa Komatsu-Liu (pictured at right), a library technician at Pearl City Library, created a display for the Children’s Summer Reading Program.

According to co-worker Vicky M. Bowie, Komatsu-Liu is one of the library’s hardest-working, creative and skilled employees. Komatsu-Liu is constantly coming up with ideas and spearheading new projects, including craft activities and reading programs for keiki. Komatsu-Lui is also a strong advocate of public libraries and is an active volunteer with the Friends of Pearl City Public Library.

Pearl City Library technician Lisa Komatsu-Liu is known for her creativity and hard work. Photo from Vicky M. Bowie.

Sherri Ko, a teacher at Kaleiopuu Elementary School, was recently recognized by the 2011 ING Unsung Heroes Program. As part of the award, the Waipahu teacher was granted $2,000 to go toward her project, “Second Grade Book Swap.” The project supports reading for Ko’s second-graders by providing them with new books each week. Ko now goes on to compete for the top prizes, which include $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000 awards.

Highlands Intermediate School seventh-graders Phillip Cyr and Cailla Fabro are among 25 student authors whose work was selected for publication in the 2011 My Hawaii Story Project. The anthology is sponsored by the Hawaii Conservation Alliance Foundation, the Hawaii Conservation Alliance and the Pacific Writers’ Connection. More than 500 students from 19 schools across the state submitted stories, poems and essays expressing their thoughts about Hawaii’s environment and conservation issues. Cyr and Fabro are students of Highlands Intermediate School teacher Kathy Lin. Cyr’s entry, The Hawaiian Rain, and Fabro’s work, Tears on the Mountain, will appear in the anthology.