LIHU‘E — While volunteers busily worked to finish entrees in time for lunch, Thursday, volunteer Rodney Nakashima and co-site coordinator Linda Garrett stopped long enough to finish up stuffing a handful of gift containers that held snacks and little toys.
LIHU‘E — While volunteers busily worked to finish entrees in time for lunch, Thursday, volunteer Rodney Nakashima and co-site coordinator Linda Garrett stopped long enough to finish up stuffing a handful of gift containers that held snacks and little toys.
“It is the Easter weekend,” Nakashima pointed out. “And, we have a few youngsters that come to lunch. When you give them something like this, they feel really special.”
Garrett and Nakashima were just two of the five volunteers from the Lihue Lutheran Church who have been hosting the Kokua Soup Kitchen free lunches each Thursday at The Salvation Army Lihue Corps on Hardy Street across from the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e.
Garrett explained that the kitchen crews are usually limited to about five people. “Any more than that, and we start getting in each other’s way,” she joked. “But, we have a lot of volunteers. About 25 of the church members have signed up.”
This allows crew members to change, depending on schedules.
Outside, the parking lot was quiet, a sharp contrast to the bustling kitchen inside, where Lauretta Geren manned a whisk to stir the developing glaze for hams that were baking in the oven.
Next to her, Lolli Hagen had improvised pots to create a double boiler so she could create the sauce for macaroni and cheese “from scratch,” as Susan Pittman put the finishing touches on a giant bowl of salad.
“We started on Feb. 10 with just 21 lunches served,” Garrett said. “And, in six weeks, it’s grown to where last week we served 65 lunches.”
Capt. Mitham Clement of The Salvation Army said, “It’s scary. It’s good, but it’s also scary. We actually had a week where we totally ran out of food.”
Clement explained that the line was winding out the door, and all of a sudden, there was no food.
But, he said, the volunteers worked together, and put together dishes using leftovers as well as stock from what was to be a future meal, to be able to feed all the people who were in line.
“They have spirit,” Clement said of the Lihue Lutheran Church volunteers. “They have the kind of spirit that just lifts you up. They’re always excited, and they’re truly a blessing.”
Garrett explained that Lihue Lutheran Church members committed to providing lunches for a year, and when that term expires, they’ll revisit the program and evaluate where they are at.
She said she hopes leaders and volunteers from other churches and organizations will get behind the program, so the Kokua Soup Kitchen can provide more than just a dinner and a lunch.
Eventually, the goal of the Kokua Soup Kitchen is to provide meals daily to whomever needs them.
Nakashima, a newscaster at KQNG radio, said he started volunteering when he read about the program in The Garden Island.
He said he volunteers for the dinner service Tuesday nights, as well as the Thursday lunches. “When you see how grateful they are, it’s easy to do these kinds of things,” he said.
During his volunteering, Nakashima has turned into somewhat of an icon in the certified kitchen, as he is the one volunteers turn to when they need to know where something is located.
Additionally, he fetches pans, sets up the drinks, and does a lot of little chores that turn the dining room into a homey gathering place.
“You need to make them feel like they belong,” he said. “It doesn’t take much, but they need to feel like they’re part of the community.”
People started to line up outside the doors as the clock neared the 11:30 a.m. start time for lunch. Couples, elderly citizens, children, and families queued up, all needing some food to eat.
That was the cue for the Lihue Lutheran Church crew to hurriedly finish up and prepare for serving, Nakashima good-heartedly joking, “We didn’t get our break today. Normally, we get 10 or 15 minutes.”
Clement, who had just returned from doing errands, watched the growing line, noting that the Kokua Soup Kitchen has attracted statewide attention. “Channel 2 was supposed to have come, today with Leslie Wilcox, but something came up.”
With Clement providing the blessing, the first meals began to be served.
Outside, a weathered Honda Civic pulled up, and three occupants slowly made their way to the entryway, one holding a container of freshly made pinacbet.
“It’s my church,” Marciana Ballesteros said. “This is my contribution. Gotta help, yeah?”
The Kokua Soup Kitchen serves dinner every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and lunch is served on Thursday starting at 11:30 a.m.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
