Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 2, 1 February 2003 — Gregory Helm Sr.: dedication and sacrifice for the good of the people [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Gregory Helm Sr.: dedication and sacrifice for the good of the people

Mother Theresa onee wrote that "the fruit of love is service, whieh is compassion in action." For the people of Moloka'i, there is no better person who personifies these words than Gregory Giles Helm Sr. A compassionate community leader and organizer to the end, Gregory Helm passed away this December leaving a legacy of accomplishments and improvements that continue to serve the community that he loved. Greg was a man whose heart was bigger than life and always took the time to share that love with everyone he saw. In fact, he has been known to stop and talk to everyone he passed in down town Kaunakakai sometimes taking up to 3 hours to walk across the street. Greg was the seasoned politician, the mayor of the town, the representative of the people and yet he never held an elected ofBce. His service did not eome in the form of eampaign promises or fancy slogans.

He served in the tradition of his accomplished Helm family and the service oriented convictions of his Catholic faith. His parents, George and Mae Helm provided a foundation that included love of the land, nurturing of the 'ohana and good, elean hard work. His younger brother George Jarrett Helm helped to lay the foundation for his generation through commitment and service with Kaho'olawe's return to the people of Hawai'i. For Greg, the best example of public service was a deep eommilment to get involved in the eommunity from the ground up. His principles were simple yet profoundly effective and based solely on thoughtful, purposeful action. He was a eommon man, salt of the earth who believed in himself, his island and the people who lived there. Gregory Helm's commitment to Moloka'i eame in many forms. He carried out his duties by serving

beneficiaries on Hawaiian Home Lands, working with the Moloka'i Jaycees, volunteering with the Moloka'i Alumni Association, spear heading the construction and eompletion of the Kūlana 'Ōiwi multiservice center and the Lani Keha Hawaiian Homes community eenter. Greg was also an environmental and cultural advocate who taught many youngsters the value of mālama 'āina. In fact, there seemed to be nothing that Greg could or would not do. All you needed to do was ask and in minutes he would be ready for action, usually with a well developed "plan" waiting to be implemented. That was his character, reliable, trustworthy, dedicated and willing to kōkua. These community focused piineiples he held on his sleeve every day of his life, never wavering or hedging for even a moment. He kept going even though his own doctors would warn him to slow down the

paee and scale back on his "volunteer" activities. But that was the kind of man he was. He practiced what he preached by being the example of hard work and commitment. He set the bar high and achieved till the very end. Gregory Giles Helm, Sr. is the kind of leader that every politician and government policy maker promises or wishes they could become. He did it by keeping an abiding faith in God and focusing on the needs of his island and eommunity. When words were not enough, he was ready to act. And, through his actions eame the love of a thousand generations from a heart as pure as gold but yet too small physically to allow him to see his message carried on by the next generation. A great leader and community man has passed. Yet in his wake is the promise that with love and hard work, anything ean be done. Aloha nui Greg. ■

Colette Machado Trustee, Moloka'i and Lāna'i