PO‘IPU — The traffic-stopping jam on Thursday might have kept some of the community partners away, but could not stop the fun and good food for the kupuna who collected at the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort in Po‘ipu for the second holiday kupuna lunch.
“We delayed serving lunch because people are starting to come in now,” said Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort manager Chip Bahouth. “But we had a lot of fun with Bingo while we waited.”
The lunch was made possible through the valuable relationships the resort made while presenting the Table 53 awards. The Table 53 program, which has to date raised some $500,000 for community nonprofits, designates proceeds from meals and beverages served at the premier table inside the RumFire restaurant at Sheraton Kaua‘i.
“Some of our partners couldn’t attend because of the traffic,” said Denise Ventura. “Aunty Jade was supposed to do the blessing, but couldn’t make it. Instead, we were lucky that Julie Souza could perform the blessing. The Kaua‘i United Way was turned away by the traffic jam, and obviously, the Kaua‘i Police Department was tied up.”
Other partners like Blaze Entertainment, which provided the sound for Wailoa, the Kaua‘i Community College culinary arts department, and Kaua‘i High School all rolled up their sleeves and worked alongside Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort staff to ensure a happy experience for the kupuna.
“These groups were all recipients of Table 53 programs,” Bahouth said. “We are happy to welcome them and their help to take care of our kupuna.”
More than 200 kupuna from all parts of the island were treated to very important people status by Bahouth and the event’s organizing committee, which was led by Gavin Baker.
The event, besides the Bingo games, included lunch served up by the Kaua‘i Community College culinary arts department working alongside the Sheraton Kaua‘i crew, and live entertainment provided by Wailoa, which the committee described as “coming out of retirement for the gig.”
Kupuna included retired associates, families of associates, Kaua‘i Christian Fellowship, St. Raphael’s Church and coordination through Kealoha Takahashi, the county’s executive on aging.
“The kupuna wanted to come,” Bahouth said. “The committee started planning for this in September, and we were getting calls from kupuna who came last year, inquiring whether we were going to have it again.”
Baker said two of the largest contributors to the lunch included Diamond Bakery, which provided a gift-wrapped box of soda crackers for all the kupuna, and Flowers Forever for contributing the table centerpieces and lei that would leave with a lucky kupuna guest.
Lappert’s contributed the ice cream dessert and Aloha Xchange arranged for the kupuna prizes.
“We had crackers, this year,” Bahouth said. “Maybe next year, we’ll throw in a can of sardines. This was a success, and we’ll definitely plan on doing it again.”
