OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“On this Day of Prayer, I wish first to thank the Lord for the gift of our common home and for all those men and women of good will committed to protecting it … for the efforts being made to develop more sustainable agriculture and more responsible nutrition. … Finally let us be concerned for the younger generation and pray for them, that they may grow in knowledge and respect for our common home.” (Pope Francis, “World Day of Prayer for Creation,” September 2018)
Following the thoughts of Pope Francis, we give thanks for the many parishioners in Hawaii who provide our keiki and kupuna with healthy, homegrown food. “One Ohana: Food and Housing for All” is a diocesan initiative supporting parish efforts that engage both the young and the “young at heart” to malama each other in caring for our common home.
Mahalo to St. Michael the Archangel Church in Kailua-Kona for starting a new parish ministry called Malama Na Keiki, which provides weekend backpacks of nutritious food twice a month to 60 hungry children identified by local school liaisons. The Malama Na Keiki ministry is assisted by the parish’s Sharing Garden, which grows hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits on church property every week. Produce is available two Wednesdays a month at the parish food pantry and is also shared with a women’s shelter, the Ulu Wini public housing complex and HOPE Services transitional shelter.
St. Michael also serves one hot meal a week to the homeless at HOPE Services Friendly Place. The parish’s social ministry provides nutritional meals for young children and their mothers through the Moms and Tots ministry. Mothers and toddlers share quality time in the garden where they are introduced to various vegetables, which they then learn how to prepare and cook.
Another inspiring example of “One Ohana” ministries is God’s Precious Seniors, the food and senior wellness ministry at St. John the Baptist Parish in Kalihi, Oahu. Kupuna both serve and receive senior food boxes, an additional nutritious food resource from the parish food pantry in partnership with the Hawaii Food Bank. The leader of this ministry is an 82-year-young Chuukese kupuna, who has been a parish pantry volunteer for many years. Every second and fourth Wednesday of each month, she leads Gods Precious Seniors or GPS for short, an intentional reference to the “global positioning system” because it helps guide kupuna to health and wellness information.
GPS sessions for Chuukese kupuna are held on the second Wednesday of every month in their native tongue, and on the fourth Wednesdays in English. Nearly two dozen seniors participate in the sessions, which include an opening prayer, a Scripture reflection, fun activities and of course refreshments.
The second Wednesday GPS sessions are followed by a senior food box distribution. Each box weighs 32 pounds, which can be too heavy for seniors to lift. But thanks to the youth ministry from the St. John’s eighth grade religion class, the food boxes are quickly and easily loaded into the Handi-Van for seniors to take home. It is truly a joy to see the kupuna talk story with the youth, as they malama one another.
The GPS program is developing partnerships with the Honolulu Police and Fire Departments, the Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society, and Catholic Charities Hawaii transportation and senior programs. GPS helps kupuna “navigate” to a healthier body, mind and spirit.
Programs like these are not only engaging our beloved keiki and kupuna, but they are vital to our “One Ohana” diocese initiative of caring for our common home and each other. For more information on “One Ohana: Food and Housing for All,” please visit our website, www.officeforsocialministry.org.
Mahalo!
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
