WAILUA — The individual wouldn’t look up.
Her hair was matted, her clothes dirty and soiled, and she sat quietly off to the side, said Rowena Pangan of Ho‘omana Thrift Store in Wailua.
That’s when Nikole Pacheco of Kilauea took her in and worked on her, starting with a MONAT package of personal-care items.
“Using items from the package, the woman took a shower, and following a change of clothes from the thrift store, Nikole worked on her hair and make-up,” Pangan said. “What a difference it made! I almost couldn’t recognize her. She stood tall and looked around. It was a new woman.”
Pacheco’s gesture was part of MONAT Gratitude’s annual Gratitude Week, a seven-day celebration that focuses on improving communities across the globe and inspiring individuals to make a positive impact through fundraising, volunteering or collecting donated goods, states a release from MONAT Gratitude.
“Nikole came in on one of our Friday care days,” Pangan said. “At first, she had the MONAT packages to give out. These had some real-good stuff in them, expensive enough that we couldn’t afford to get any. But she passed them out to the clients for free. And then she started giving haircuts. A lot of haircuts for as long as the light held up.”
Pangan said it wasn’t just one day. Pacheco returned during last week’s care day with more hair cutters to take care of as many people as they could while the light lasted.
Pacheco partnered with Ho‘omana in hosting several “Cut-O-Thon” events to provide free haircuts to homeless women and children. She recruited five of the top hairstylists on Kaua‘i to come together for the event, ensuring the best treatment for everyone who participated. Individuals were also offered a $20 voucher for new clothes, a hot shower, a hot meal, medical attention and an essentials bag along with the haircuts.
“I am so proud of what our Market Partners are doing to give back to their communities,” said Lu Urdaneta, CEO of MONAT Gratitude, in the release. “I believe we have a greater possibility of attaining a better quality of life when the progress of our community is nurtured from the core of its own families. We love our tradition of empowering our community to unite and inspire the world through gratitude.”
The initiative by MONAT Gratitude, the philanthropic movement behind MONAT Global, started in 2014 when MONAT Chairman and Co-Founder Sr. Luis Urdaneta asked that in celebration of his birthday on Dec. 5, everyone take action to help others in their community.
Since its start, over the past seven years, Gratitude Week has grown into a special tradition that inspires MONAT employees and Market Partners to get involved and take action in their local communities.
