NUKOLI‘I — Cars overflowed the parking lots and available on-street parking at the Kaua‘i Beach Resort Tuesday when nearly 500 seniors converged for the Kaua‘i PrimeTime Wellness Fair. Cindy Ing of the Marketing Communications Division of First Hawaiian Bank, primary
NUKOLI‘I — Cars overflowed the parking lots and available on-street parking at the Kaua‘i Beach Resort Tuesday when nearly 500 seniors converged for the Kaua‘i PrimeTime Wellness Fair.
Cindy Ing of the Marketing Communications Division of First Hawaiian Bank, primary sponsor of the event, said they planned for at least 500 seniors, many of whom arrived early for the four-hour event.
“This is our 15th year hosting the wellness fair and we’ve been everywhere starting at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center, moving to the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall, and now, we’re at the Kaua‘i Beach Resort,” Ing said. “This year, we have five new vendors bringing our total offering to 34 vendors and exhibitors, including First Hawaiian Bank who is offering information on its services as it relates to kupuna.”
The American Diabetes Association, the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Kaua‘i Hospice featuring Share The Care, and Mina Pharmacy were the new vendors.
“We do all the flu shots for First Hawaiian Bank since 1997,” said Miri Yi, director of Business Development for Mina Pharmacy. “We have 17 locations on O‘ahu, Maui and the Big Island, and if we could find space on Kaua‘i, we were thinking of opening a branch, here.”
Yi said despite not having a branch on Kaua‘i, Mina Pharmacy takes care of a lot of Kaua‘i residents who visit O‘ahu doctors and have their prescriptions filled before returning home.
“We have free mailing service to customers on Kaua‘i,” Yi said. “The Kaua‘i customers come in and don’t need to worry because we mail the prescriptions to them for free. Today, people getting flu shots earn a $10 gift certificate with no expiration date.”
Visit www.minarx.com for more information on Mina Pharmacy.
Keri Russell had been in the Kaua‘i director’s seat for less than a month for the American Red Cross, Kaua‘i Chapter, before attending the wellness fair with volunteer Michelle Faraldi who had only recently returned from helping with the weather-related situation in the Gulf Coast.
“We have a new office in the Solypsis Building just west of Kukui Grove Center,” Russell said. “Right now, we’re concentrating on getting volunteers signed up so we can start our first volunteer training class.”
Russell said the priority for volunteers is based on the number of volunteers Kaua‘i has registered compared with the island’s population.
“We’re down in the number of volunteers in terms of where we need to be,” Russell said. “There was talk about the service at disaster centers during the last storm. That is related to not having enough volunteers. The more trained volunteers we have, the better job we can do in running the shelters.”
People can call 245-4919 for more information on volunteering, or for information on the American Red Cross.
Despite a wide range of information helpful to kupuna, ranging from Traditional Hawaiian medicine to more contemporary protection against fraud and scams, Ing said she is looking for more ideas on what can be added to the fair to help the elderly.
The Kaua‘i PrimeTime Wellness Fair is sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank, the County of Kaua‘i Agency on Elderly Affairs and Clinical Laboratories of Hawai‘i, which was offering glucose and cholesterol testing.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
