Enriching Lives With Outreach

By Rodney Wong
Wednesday - August 25, 2010 Share

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By Rodney Wong, Head Chef
Kahala Nui

Kahala Nui is a nonprofit, continuing care retirement community dedicated to enriching the lives of seniors through programs and outreach. Whether individuals are within or beyond the walls of the building, the community is committed to providing services and resources to our kupuna.

Each year, Kahala Nui’s dining team cooks more than 240,000 meals. That is 8,000 pounds of rice, 77,000 cookies and 91,000 pounds of papaya! Now the crew is taking on a new community initiative: making 13,500 additional meals to donate to seniors in the Meals on Wheels program.

For six years, my kitchen team and I have been busy serving up nutritious meals for Kahala Nui residents, and we are excited about this new venture. In addition to our regular duties, the staff will cook 50 meals daily to donate to Meals on Wheels. Kahala Nui residents also will volunteer their time to help package the food, while management associates soon will begin volunteering to deliver the piping-hot meals.

The Meals on Wheels program is just one way that Kahala Nui helps seniors in the community. There are knitting classes for residents and employees, during which they knit more than 100 scarves that were then donated to Palama Settlement seniors. Kahala Nui also has gotten involved with creating gift bags filled with personal items and a gift card as a donation to the Lokahi Giving Project.

At Kahala Nui, the dining team, staff and residents all pitch in to help fellow nonprofits

Additional support has been provided to Aloha United Way, Catholic Charities Hawaii and other local nonprofits.

Kahala Nui understands that as Hawaii’s senior population continues to grow, it’s important to support and increase services for them that promote independence and comfort in their own home.

We’re constantly looking at ways to help out seniors in their community, and lately, lending a hand means wearing a hair net.

For more information, visit kahalanui.com.

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