Diane is KITV4’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. She hosts the Aging Well series on Tuesday evenings at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. She is a mother, a cat owner, and a yogi.
There's a man in Kunia who is keeping his neighborhood clean, one shopping cart at a time. Mark Salondaka's Na Mea Pono, or noble cause, is to return carts that a houseless person keeps piling up at the entrance of his subdivision. He does this on his own time, and his own dime.
MILILANI, Hawaii (KITV4) -- There's a man in Kunia who is keeping his neighborhood clean, one shopping cart at a time. Mark Salondaka's Na Mea Pono, or noble cause, is to return carts that a houseless person keeps piling up at the entrance of his subdivision. He does this on his own time, and his own dime.
Right behind the sign at the entrance to Royal Kunia is a different kind of sign -- that of homelessness and hoarding.
"It's an eyesore at the entrance of Royal Kunia. The carts pile up quickly. I pick them up and return them to the stores where they belong," said Salondaka, who says he can't miss the debris pile up growing every day as he drives home.
Curious where this was coming from, Salondaka watched, and one day, saw a man taking the carts to this area, where he lives below.
"He brings carts just about every day, that he gathers from around town," Salondaka said.
KITV4 followed him as he loaded up one cart to return to Seafood City. It takes him 10 minutes to put on personal protective equipment like gloves and a safety vest, and place and tie the shopping cart onto the cargo trailer on the back of his truck.
"The stores aren't that far away. There's Seafood City in Waipahu, Walmart, Times. It'll take me an hour to do a cart pickup," he said.
This started three years ago.
"People would call the stores, but that took too long. We also would call the association, but then Mark took it upon himself to take the carts back," said Randy Yamada, a neighbor.
Salondaka even spent $300 on the cargo carrier to transport the carts, because the back of his truck is too high to easily get the shopping cart in there. It takes him about three hours a week, depending on how many carts are there.
"My hitch trailer only holds three carts at at time. Some days, I'll do three runs at least. When I'm driving to the store, and if I see carts on the side of the road, if it's safe to stop and pick them up, I will," Salondaka said.
"When you drive by, it's right at the entrance. It's noticeable. It affects the community, the outlook. This way, he is doing a favor to the whole community," Yamada added.
Some managers recognize him now when he does the drop offs. At Seafood City Supermarket in Waipahu, the manager runs out with an enthusiastic thank you and a halo halo dessert.
"She'll see me at a distance and next thing you know she's running up to me giving me halo halo Filipino dessert. That feels good," Salodaka smiled.
Salondaka encourages others to take care of their community.
"Lots of people think about it but don't take the initiative. Just a little bit of initiative, and once people do it, I think people will like that feeling of helping out," he encouraged.
It feels good, and who knows, you might even get a sweet treat out of it.
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And a follow up for you. Salondaka had been asking the government to help clean up the tunnel where, he says, the houseless man was storing trash. There's an overwhelming amount of garbage here.
KITV4 called city councilmember Matt Weyer, who represents that district, to follow up on Salondaka's request. Coincidentally the next day, workers took out several truckloads of trash from the area.
Weyer said he had already received a request and met with Royal Kunia's homeowners' association.
Weyer says the tunnel is under Kunia Road, which is on state land. So he and State Rep. Elijah Pierick asked the state highways division to do the cleanup. State Homeless Coordinator Jun Yang was also part of the effort.
"Department of Transportation Highways, their Homeless Coordinator Jun Yang, and their crew were very responsive once it was brought to their attention," Weyer said.
Weyer and Pierick are working on contacting the owner of the private property portion.
The Honolulu City Council on Jan. 25, 2023, also gave Salondaka an Honorary Certificate for his community service.
Diane is KITV4’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. She hosts the Aging Well series on Tuesday evenings at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. She is a mother, a cat owner, and a yogi.
