MOKULE'IA — For 60 years Camp Mokule'ia has served the people of Hawai'i, and yesterday some of those people returned the favor.

More than 100 volunteers equipped with hammers, paint brushes and saws refurbished the camp buildings, improved the landscaping and cleared land for parking and a playing field. The one-day project was led by Actus Lend Lease, a public/private community developer, and supported by its subcontractors.

It was among five projects around O'ahu that got similar treatment yesterday, though the one at Camp Mokule'ia was the most ambitious.

The camp caters to schools, churches and community groups, hosting camping trips as well as special events for child and youth cancer patients and more.

For some volunteers, helping at the camp, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Episcopal Church in Hawai'i, brought back memories.

When Tim Musselman heard that Actus was doing a project there, he told his bosses that he wanted to be a team leader.

Yesterday, his team was refurbishing an old home that some said was falling apart and "held together by termites." By 9 a.m. the team had already replaced the roof, some of the exterior and interior walls, the drywall and windows and were installing a wheelchair ramp. There was more new material on the building than old.

Musselman said he lives less than two miles from the camp and his daughter has camped there.

"I've been here for 20 years," he said. "My daughter was born and raised here. We got personal involvement with this."

The annual Actus Lend Lease Community Day isn't unique to Hawai'i. Wherever the company has a presence, it organizes a day to give back, said Steve Goraczkowski, Actus operation manager for construction.

Employees nominate projects and many had compelling arguments for this one, said Goraczkowski, community day co-chairman.

"A lot of people have a strong affection for it, so we thought it was a great project," Goraczkowski said.

Five projects were nominated and all five were selected, said Bennette Evangelista, Actus vice president for government and community relations.

"We couldn't turn them down," said Evangelista, project co-chairman, "Considering how our people felt so passionate about them, we said let's go for five."

More than 150 Actus employees volunteered for the projects and 20 subcontractors provided labor and material, all of which added up to about $150,000 for the five projects, she said. Subcontractors contributed about $78,000 in labor and material, she said, adding that Actus paid their employees for the day's work.

Overall, the work accomplished at the camp yesterday would have cost about $95,000, Evangelista said.

There were seven work sites at the camp, where people were painting three buildings, laying water line for irrigation, building forms for a concrete slab that will be an outdoor shower and clearing brush on a 10-acre site for parking and a playing field.

Travis Okazaki, a painter with Jade Painting & Decorating, said his boss also paid him to work at the camp. He said he admired the community spirit shared by all the people, many of whom were untrained.

"Everybody here has a lot of heart," Okazaki said.

The volunteer work fits right into the camp's recent campaigns to renovate, upgrade and improve the site, said Bill Lucas, camp board of directors president.

The camp had estimated the home renovation alone would cost about $90,000 and it had asked G.N. Wilcox Trust for a $50,000 grant for the project. Coincidentally the money was presented to the camp yesterday, he said.

The work yesterday will advance the camp's upgrading projects by a couple of years because the camp has to seek outside funding for maintenance and renovation, Lucas said. To keep fees low, the camp charges only enough to pay for the operation of the camp.

"They say that this is part of what we do for the larger community and we're certainly glad they found us," he said. "They poured their heart and soul in it."

About 90 percent of the planned work for the camp was completed by the end of the day, Evangelista said. The house and some of the concrete work will need touch-up, but the painting was completed. Team members said they would return today or Monday to finish, she said.

The volunteers were tired "but happy and fulfilled that we made a difference and not just for the Episcopal Church but for the thousands of people who use the camp," Evangelista said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.