A SAVORY CAUSE
Alan Wong and Lyn Moku help load a car with meals. Photo by Randy T. Fujimori
Fundraiser rolls on for kupuna
By Simplicio Paragas
Good times. Good food. Great cause. For the fourth consecutive year, “The Good Table” will help raise funds for Lanakila Pacific’s Meals on Wheels program, which delivers sustenance — and friendship — to homebound kupuna islandwide. This year’s event takes on a more meaningful and urgent tone with the announcement on July 1 that the nonprofit was forced to cut back on the number of meals it delivers each week to senior citizens.
By choosing the latter, approximately 760 elderly residents will continue to receive four meals a week. For many recipients, this means they’ll have to find a way to replace the RDA-balanced, low-fat food they normally receive from Lanakila Meals on Wheels. According to Lyn Moku, their typical client is an Asian or Polynesian woman in her mid-80s, living alone on a fixed monthly income of $1,000 or less.
Goran Streng of Tango will again participate in this year's fundraiser.
“Part of our culture in Hawaii is to take care of our kupuna, and we’ve got one of the fastest growing senior populations in the nation,” says Moku, director of Meals on Wheels at Lanakila Pacific. “We deliver about 250,000 meals a year to seniors and the homebound.”
Scheduled for October 4 at 6 p.m., The Good Table is a synchronized and interactive gastronomic event that will play out at more than 50 restaurants across the island. Tables of four to six can be purchased at such restaurants as Alan Wong’s, The Pineapple Room, Orchids at Halekulani, Tango Café, Stage, 3660 on the Rise, Beachhouse at the Moana, Café Laufer and Le Bistro in Niu Valley Shopping Center.
“We made the process of buying tables simpler this year,” says Marlena Willette, the organization’s marketing and communications manager, and a driving force behind The Good Table. “We did away with the categories, and you no longer have to bid on a table; you can simply choose your restaurant and pay the suggested donation.”
Other participating eateries include Prince Court, BluWater Grill, Michel’s at the Colony Surf, The Pacific Club, Roy’s – Hawaii Kai, 12th Ave Grill, SALT Kitchen + Tasting Bar, Sidestreet Inn (Ala Moana), Downbeat Diner, Aina Haina Chop Suey, Big City Diners and Zippy’s. Tables range in price from $125 to $500 for two to six guests.
“This is a critical event for us because it helps provide meals and support for Oahu’s seniors,” Moku says. “As we like to say around here this time of the year, help turn one great meal into many.”
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