Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 12, 1 December 2021 — Meals & Mahalo: OHA and Native Hawaiian-Owned Businesses Give Back to Frontline Hospital Workers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Meals & Mahalo: OHA and Native Hawaiian-Owned Businesses Give Back to Frontline Hospital Workers

By Tammy Mori Over the past few months the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has delivered nearly 2,000 meals to frontline hospital workers aeross the pae aina from Hilo Medieal Center to the Kaua'i Veterans Memorial Hospital. "Meals & Mahalo" is a way to share aloha and appreeiation at a time when healthcare workers are suffering from burnout and fatigue as C0VID-19 marches on. "This [Meals & Mahalo] provides so mueh encouragement for our nurses and doctors, especially the respiratory therapists," said Elena Cabatu, director of Marketing and Puhlie Affairs at Hilo Medical Center. "They're going to battle every day when they eome to work. When we receive mālama from the community, it helps us to press on." Serving alongside OHA are many Native Hawai-ian-owned businesses who are cooking and serving up lunches with aloha. Many of the participating Native Hawaiian businesses have been recipients of OHA Mālama Loans and feel compelled to pay it forward, such as Liquid Life, an organic holistic heahh cafe and juice bar with three locations on Hawai'i Island.

"We started our company to help heal our eommunity, so to be able to provide food for healthcare workers who are literally healing Hawai'i is such a rewarding experience," said Puna Tripp, owner of Liquid Life. "This is a beautiful part of living in a plaee where we ean eome together as 'ohana, in big or small ways, during times of need." For Fran and Aaron Kalei of Kalei's Luneh Box on Maui, the pandemic has hit close to home. Fran lost her

97-year-old mother to COVID-19 in August 2020. Shortly after her mother passed, they decided to feed the Maui Medical Center staff luneh as a mahalo for caring for Fran's mother and so many loved ones in the eommunity. Since then, Fran and Aaron have looked for opportunities to donate to various businesses and organizations impacted by the pandemic. "Sometimes it's not about the money," said Fran Kalei. "We have a passion to serve and feed the community. We want to take care of our frontline workers - from those in the hospitals to our firefighters and poliee. We are all in this together." In November, OHA delivered meals to hospitals on Lāna'i and Moloka'i. They partnered with the Taste of Moloka'i, whose owner has ties with the OHA Mālama Loans Program as well. "This has been a wonderful opportunity to work together with our OHA Mālama Loan recipients to serve our community," said OHA Mālama Loans Program Manager Clarence Aikuē Kalima. "These businesses crafted special menus to share their aloha through food, and also took the extra step to deliver this food and voice their appreciation to our frontline workers. We are grateful for this demonstration of aloha and for their hearts of service." ■

OHA Board of Trustees Chair Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey and Community Outreach Coordinator Roy Newton of 0HA's Maui office kōkua Fran Heath and her team from Kalei's Lunchbox as they load healthy Meals & Mahalo lunches for delivery to staff at Maui Memorial Medical Center.. - Photo: Courtesy