FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
At Gateway Park, Hotel and Bethel streets in downtown Honolulu, the Thanksgiving of Hope event helped feed the hungry. Volunteer Sarah Niau, right, served food yesterday. She and her father, Rusty Niau, standing next to her, from the Big Island and in town visiting her aunt, came down to help in the feeding.
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A heaping serving of hope
Elizabeth Talaeai ate a Thanksgiving weekend lunch yesterday while sitting on a cement bench behind her cart at Chinatown Gateway Park.
"Ono brah," said Talaeai, who lives at the park. "When you hungry, it's ono. I thank everybody for coming out, being here and sharing with us."
Talaeai took part in the Thanksgiving of Hope lunch sponsored by the Kau Kau Wagon, a meal service for the hungry every Saturday at the Hotel Street park.
Dozens of volunteers scooped out food into Styrofoam containers as hundreds of hungry people lined the sidewalk and around the corner up Nuuanu Street. Volunteers prepared and served up about 50 imu turkeys, 30 hams, mixed vegetables, stuffing and pumpkin pie.
"We have an easy 800 here," said Kau Kau Wagon founder Sharon Black. "When you see all these people get together, this is Thanksgiving."
She said the Thanksgiving event grows larger every year with more volunteers and people seeking a meal.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
A large crowd of Downtown folks showed up in the park for the food. At one point the line ran along Hotel Street, around the corner up Nuuanu Avenue, all the way to Indigo Restaurant.
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Donna Renick, who volunteers almost weekly with the lunch wagon, said the wagon has served about a hundred more people each year for the past two years. On a regular Saturday, the group serves sandwiches to about 150 to 200 people, she said.
The Red Cross Club also had a booth at the event, giving out toiletries, clothes, toys, and snacks. Students from Roosevelt, Pearl City, and Kaimuki high schools helped at the booth, said Red Cross Chief Executive Officer Coralie Matayoshi.
"Helping them just makes you feel good," said Pearl City High School senior Elizabeth Chang, who stood by a pile of clothes to give away.
Paul Akuna said he came to the lunch to save money.
"I stay at the Kakaako shelter saving up as much as I can to move back into society," said Akuna, who has a job working in construction. He said he was preparing to move when the state shelter closes next year.
"I just save money and take it one day at a time," he said.