Tag: meals on wheels

Good job with the turkey, Turkey.

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Early Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Lanakila headquarters to do some extra volunteer work. We were assigned to the Tray Assembly line which meant helping to scoop hot turkey dinners for 800 meals that were going out to the neediest seniors.

We were half an hour early and yet by the time we got there the parking lot was full and there was a mass of people registering for their shift.


We got in line to wash our hands then get our hair nets and gloves. Everyone waited patiently while the the coordinators got the lines ready.


Once the food was brought out, one of the coordiantors thanked us all for being there and gave us a rousing pep talk.


We were asked to take a spot next to a ladle with a designated food label: green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Everyone scrambled for a spot and waited like dogs at the starting gate.


There are no pictures of what happened next because there was such a flurry of activity and suddenly me and K were scooping, scooping, scooping. Once in awhile the Lanakila staff would yell out some encouragement, or ‘level scoops!’ or ‘hot behind you!’ or ‘more gravy on line 2!’.

Two things I felt while we were scooping our meals:
1. Assembly lines are fun.
And 2. this is making me hungry.


Before we knew it, it was all over. The entire process took less than an hour. Russell the coordinator yelled out ‘Thank you people! Now go on home and watch some football!’ and everyone clapped and dispersed within seconds.

It was really well organized and very satisfying to be a part of. Like a flash mob, flash volunteering.


Whoa doggie

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K and I started our Lanakila Meals on Wheels route again yesterday. We took over a route that a woman named Rashan had been doing for a year. She did the route with us so that she could say goodbye and introduce us to the seniors. In contrast to how I’ve delivered meals, Rashan really took her time and did alot of talk story. I was touched by how gentle and genuine she was with each of them even though I got tired part way through and let K go on without me.

I never knew my grandparents. Before this, I wasn’t really curious about seniors and had no affinity for them. But my best friend Ruth, who passed away last December, was 75, Technically a senior, Ruth was younger than me in spirit and my favorite person in the world to talk to. I never saw her as any age until she got sick.

Spending time with her in hospice showed me that little things can make a huge difference to someone that can’t do everything for themselves anymore. Being able to do this route means alot to me…mainly a chance not to be a mainland boor.


On our own

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We did our Meals on Wheels route on our own this week.  We didn’t see Gladys at the pick-up point which was kind of sad.  We were looking forward to seeing her again.  The route took us a long time for some reason.  And the senior lady K felt a small connection to was busy being read to by a neighbor.  So we made all of our deliveries with minimal interaction.  It doesn’t seem like much, driving around and delivering frozen food, but I was dog-tired at the end.  I think it’ll probably get easier as we get more familiar with the different addresses.

Meals No Wheels

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Today was my first day doing Meals on Wheels.  A couple of things went wrong right off the bat.  First, K got called into work and couldn’t do the training with me.  Second, Gladys (my trainer) apparently didn’t know she was training me.  And finally, a few minutes after Gladys and I started the route the car began to sputter in the fast lane of a busy road. We coasted down a hill and got enough juice to pull over on strip of grass along Kaneohe Bay Dr.  I think the sign on the dashboard could have had something to do with it.  Then it started raining.  And then I had to go to the bathroom really bad.

K had finished work by then and came for us. Winnie from Lanakila arrived with a new car for Gladys and we all set off to do the deliveries.

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Despite the early obstacles I had a great time with Gladys and the route was very easy.  I found that I really enjoyed packing the meals.  It’s very satisfying.  K did the deliveries with Gladys, meeting all the recipients and in some cases putting the meals away for them in a fridge.  I hung back at the car organizing the food and punching addresses into the GPS.

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At one point K was taking a long time at a delivery that he did alone. Gladys looked up and said  ‘what happen? kidnapping?’  I’m looking forward to seeing her again next week.

Eh! try nice

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We visited Eric at Lanakila Pacific today for our Meals on Wheels orientation.  We start our route next week.  As someone that has worked almost exclusively in the not for profit world, I’m pretty impressed so far.  They’re organizational model is unique in that they’re striving to be wholly independant– cooking their own meals, hiring workers from their training programs.  Every element seems to be well thought out and carefully developed.  I’m most impressed by their relationships with Hawaiian farms–sourcing all of their food locally and cooking all meals in house.  K liked the fact that they’ve built relationships with schools and when young people are studying relevant periods in history Lanakila will refer one of the seniors they serve as a first person witness to give a testimonial.  I’m looking forward to getting to know the organization more.

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