Nima Haghbin holds the 2026 Adopt-A-Highway Dash for Trash Champion trophy on behalf of the Baha'is of Wailuku. Photo courtesy Highways Maui District

The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Wailuku has been named the champion of this year’s Adopt-A-Highway Dash for Trash, an annual public service competition sponsored by the state Department of Transportation’s Highways Maui District.

The event was held over April and May and rewarded participants based on the number of bags of trash collected per volunteer. The format gave smaller groups such as Baha’is of Wailuku a chance to compete with larger groups in the highway cleanup effort.

Baha’is of Wailuku conducted two highway cleanups in April, removing trash from the group’s adopted segment along Maui Veterans Highway between mileposts 4 and 6.4.

“We love our environment, it doesn’t look nice when the trash is all around,” Baha’is of Wailuku member Nima Haghbin said. “And we’re here to serve our community in whatever way or capacity that we have. Whether that’s highway cleanups or providing children’s activities or anything where we provide service to the community.”

Members of the Baha’is of Wailuku pose near the group’s Adopt-A-Highway sign along Maui Veterans Highway. Photo courtesy Baha’is of Wailuku

The group was joined by hundreds of other Adopt-A-Highway volunteers during this year’s competition. In all, 275 volunteers from 20 Adopt-A-Highway groups took part in 23 cleanups in April and May, removing more than 300 bags of trash from along more than 40 miles of state highway on Maui.

“Adopt-A-Highway depends on awesome volunteers who recognize the importance of giving back to the community and doing what we can to protect our islands’ environment,” said Ty Fukuroku, program manager of Environmental Management for Highways Maui District.

Previous Dash for Trash winners include Kamehameha Schools in 2025 and Bayer Maui in 2024.

Adopt-A-Highway is a public service program that works with volunteers to remove trash from along Hawaii’s state highways and help prevent litter and other pollutants from blowing or flowing into the ocean and other bodies of water.

Volunteer groups commit to adopting a two-mile segment of state highway for at least two years. For more information about the program, go to StormwaterMaui.com.