Thousands of gallons of concrete will be poured into cracks and plopped into potholes in downtown Honolulu by year’s end thanks to a joint sidewalk repair project organized by the city and the Lions Clubs of Hawaii.

Now in its second year, the Safe Sidewalk Project uses volunteer labor to patch sidewalks with minimal city guidance, saving government manpower and taxpayer dollars in the process. After clocking more than 500 volunteer hours over the past year patching sidewalks in Waikiki, project participants began work on a stretch of walkway downtown near Richards Street on Aug. 7 and will expand westward through Chinatown in the coming months.

"It’s simple yet it’s doing multiple things," said Wendell Hosea, who oversees the sidewalk project for the Lions. "It’s a good way of involving service organizations like the Lions and accomplishing something, especially when (the city) is limited on their budget."

The downtown phase of the project will cover the area from Richards Street to River Street between Beretania Street and Nimitz Highway. Volunteers will repair the sidewalks on two Saturdays a month until the project is complete, and plan to work with local businesses to make sure construction does not completely block pedestrian traffic.

Although the work in Waikiki was done primarily by volunteers from 18 different Lions Clubs on Oahu and the neighbor islands, members of the nonprofit Chinatown Improvement District and Air National Guard have pitched in to help with sidewalk repairs downtown.

"It’s a great thing for the community," said Chinatown Improvement District President Lee Stack. "Citizens, residents, business owners are contributing to safety in the neighborhood."

The partnership emerged out of concern for pedestrian safety on busy stretches of sidewalk that have fallen into disrepair.

Walkways lifted by snaking tree roots and fractured by years of heavy foot traffic and erosion posed a tripping hazard, and pedestrians were getting hurt, Hosea said. "We’ve been very happy that we’re making sure that we can reduce injuries."

The sidewalk project requires close coordination between the city and volunteers. The Department of Facilities Maintenance canvasses streets in the project area and circles cracks and dips that need repair with white spray paint before the crews arrive. The volunteers — in groups ranging from 12 to 40 — are given a quick tutorial on patching sidewalks and supervised by a skeleton crew of city officials to ensure the repairs are being done correctly. According to city spokesman Bill Brennan, the city has regularly scheduled staff to work on weekends to oversee the project.

The city provides patching material, tools and safety equipment. Volunteers use a quick-drying concrete that lasts for five years.

"It’s been a fun thing for all of us," Hosea said. "It’s not a hard sell — they see the impact, what it does for the area."

Hosea said he has been approached by Lions Clubs across the state that want to participate in or start similar projects, and is working with Kauai and Hawaii counties to bring the program to the neighbor islands. The sidewalk patrols were also named as a finalist for Lions Clubs International’s outstanding service project award.

"We’ve had a lot of good comments," he said. "What gets me is when somebody says, ‘I have a family member that got injured, and that’s going to protect them.’ That really touches your heart."