A great day for a walk in the park
by Robert Yang | June 10, 2024
Waking up early isn’t easy for some people, including myself. But on Saturday, August 5, 2023, Kapiolani Regional Park was already filling up at sunrise with volunteers preparing for the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk. I vividly remember an ocean of colors flooding the park thanks to different organizations coordinating and adorning T-shirts in various shades of red, blue, and green to represent each of their companies.
The Hawaiian Electric tent was easily spotted thanks to our bright, lime-green company volunteer shirts. Even without knowing the exact count, it was easy to see that there were close to a hundred employees and their families at the event. And these were the early birds — the actual event didn’t start until an hour later. I learned that there were over 300 attendees representing our company that day.
The program officially started at around 7 a.m. Hawaiian Electric Industries President and CEO Scott Seu gave a brief speech followed by an electrifying warm-up: The Electric Slide! Scott was joined on stage by our own president and CEO, Shelee Kimura, as well as American Savings Bank President and CEO Ann Teranishi. The three led the fun, upbeat exercise as the large audience followed along.
The one-mile walk lapped around Kapiolani Park, and it was a nice opportunity to talk story and bond. I was able to have a quick chat with some coworkers before running ahead to get more photos. It felt like a casual walking meeting, minus the shop talk.
I was welcomed at the finish line with healthy snacks, a complimentary refreshing cooling towel provided by American Savings Bank, ice cold water, and shout-outs of “good job” and “thank you.” There were also several booths set up with a variety of activities for participants to learn more about health and organizations. Overall, the walk was a fun first experience for me and I enjoyed supporting good heart health!
For those interested, you can support this year’s annual American Heart Association Heart Walk on August 3, 2024.
Robert Yang is a digital communications and social media specialist at Hawaiian Electric.
