A Helping Hand As BYUH Grieves
Wednesday - January 05, 2011
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Del.icio.usAloha Pamela,
Recently one of our students at BYU Hawaii passed away suddenly. She was an international student from Mongolia, so there were many logistic issues: getting her mother here, arranging to ship the body home, etc.
Because she was so well-loved by so many, we chose to have a memorial service. I called Waipio Costco to order food for the service and was put in touch with Gayle. Gayle bent over backwards to help in any way she could. The order was large and we had no place to refrigerate it, so Gayle arranged for me to pick it up at 7 on Saturday morning - before the store opened! She gathered all the other non-refrigerated food and supplies we needed from Costco and had everything ready for me to pick up quickly and get back to the memorial that morning.
Not only did she go above and beyond, but she did it all with such kindness and personal service. If this were not enough, Gayle personally purchased items and donated them to be used at the memorial service.
Gayle is a true example of the aloha spirit in Hawaii. What a wonderful place to live with people like Gayle!
Laurie Tueller
Laie
Dear Laurie,
Waipio Costco general manager Tom Burba says his assistant manager Gayle Kawamura is a dynamic individual. “She really knows the business and cares about people. She’s worked at our Salt Lake location in Honolulu and now in Waipahu. We’re sympathetic to the needs of the community and donate to as many organizations as we can, but this was something that Gayle took on on her own.”
Aloha Pamela,
I wanted to recognize Kealii in APPLAUSE. He is the manager at the Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union, Ala Moana branch on Amana Street. I parked my car in the USA Hawaii Federal Credit Union parking lot and was on my way to church when I noticed my front tire was completely flat. My first thought was to drive out of the parking lot because I did not want to get stuck in the lot, as it closes after the church service. Before I even had time to do anything, Kealii appeared out of nowhere ready to help. He immediately started to get his equipment out of his truck. He told me, “Don’t worry, I will have this fixed in time for you to get to church.”
Kealii not only changed my flat, but switched my back tire to the front so I wouldn’t be driving with an unsafe spare tire as my front tire. He didn’t stop there. He next went about trying to find out where the leak was coming from on my flat tire. He was able to find out that the problem was the valve. He actually marked the area of the tire for me to show the tire repair shop. By the time he finished, his hands were covered with black soot.
If this is an example of what he does for a total stranger, I only can imagine the service he gives to his employees and customers.
Cheryl Medeiros
Moiliili
Dear Cheryl,
Seventeen years ago Kealii Peltier applied for a job at AAA. He accepted the job at Hawaii USA Federal Credit Union instead, but still has a love for cars. “I have all this auto equipment in my truck, don’t ask me why,” he says. “The credit union shares the parking lot with the church, so when I saw that Cheryl tried to drive off with a flat, I had to stop her from ruining her tire. I got all the gear out of my truck and went to work. It took 10 minutes. When I see people stuck on the road I try to help out, so actually you could say I never stopped fixing cars.”
(If you know someone who deserves some Applause, send your letters to Pamela Young, MidWeek Applause, KITV, 801 S. King St., Honolulu, HI, 96813 or e-mail pyoung@kitv.com. Include your name, phone number and, if possible, the phone number of your “applaudee” so we can contact him or her.)
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