Source: kitv.com
KAPOLEI, Hawaiʻi (Island News) – Ko Olina Resort is gearing up for its 26th annual Thanksgiving Outreach that is set to feed families and individuals throughout West Oʻahu. Happening on November 22, more than 100 resort employees, culinary students, and community partners will prepare to distribute 4,000 complete Thanksgiving meals.
“This outreach is more than a meal, it’s about gratitude, connection, and the true meaning of community,” said Sweetie Nelson, director of destination marketing for Ko Olina Resort.
The event started back in 1999 with just 1,000 meals being distributed. It has now grown to include volunteers from Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa; Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu; Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club; Beach Villas at Ko Olina; and Ko Olina Marina.
Volunteers will come together to cook, package, and hand-deliver meals including turkey, stuffing, gravy, and pie to 25 churches, shelters, and veterans’ organizations from Waiʻanae to Waipahu.
Leeward Community College culinary students will prepare more than 2,700 pounds of turkey, while UPS drivers will spend their day delivering over 500 trays of food to outreach sites including the Waiʻanae Boat Harbor and Pu’uhonua O Waiʻanae, Boys & Girls Club Waiʻanae, U.S. Vets of Kalaeloa, and Lighthouse Outreach Center in Waipahu.
“For 26 years, our Ko Olina ʻohana has come together with neighbors and friends to share aloha and provide west side families the opportunity to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together. That spirit of giving and togetherness is what defines Thanksgiving for us,” added Nelson.
View the meal distribution partners and locations below:
Waiʻanae/Mākaha
- Waiʻanae Assembly of God
- First Assembly of God
- Waiʻanae Boat Harbor & Puʻuhonua O Waiʻanae
- Paiʻolu Kaiʻāulu Transitional Housing
- Boys & Girls Club Waiʻanae
- ʻOhana Ola
- Hale Wai Vista / Ark of Safety
- Kauhale Kamaile
- Kulia I Ka Nuu
- Sewers Beach Park / Middle Park / Pokaʻi Bay
- Peneli Assembly of God
- Ma’ili/Nānākuli
- Maʻili Bridge / Community Park
- City of Joy
- Tracks to Black Rocks (Nānākuli Beach)
Kapolei
- Hale Moena
- Kumuhonua Transitional Shelter
- U.S. Vets of Kalaeloa
- Kapolei Regional Park
- Coral Crater Adventure Park
Ewa/Waipahu
- Calvary Chapel ʻEwa
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
- West Loch Elderly Village
- Boys & Girls Club Hale Pono ʻEwa Beach Clubhouse
- Lighthouse Outreach Center
- Waipahu United Church of Christ