By Alika Hussey Sheldon
Special to the Herald
It was raining and gloomy for most of the morning as volunteers gathered Dec. 19 to host the final Kaneohe Service Fair of the year at Kaneohe District Park. The service fair is a monthly venture to lend a supportive hand to those in our community who are experiencing homelessness.
Churches in the Kaneohe area — including St. Ann Church, Parker Methodist Church, Anchor Church and Bayview Baptist Church — lent their support, along with agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Helping Hands Hawaii, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Institute for Human Services, state Department of Health’s Public Health Nursing branch, River of Life Mission, Adventist Health Castle and Giving Hope Hawaii.
In addition, each month a restaurant in the Kaneohe area provides a hot meal at no charge. A shower van also is present at the fair, offering a hot bath to any attendee in need of one.
This year, the churches partnered to provide a holiday gift bag that included Mylar blankets, towels, rain ponchos, socks, underwear, hygiene packets and a gift card from 7-Eleven Hawaii — providing a bit of warmth and support to clients during the rainy winter season.
Generous donations to the St. Ann Giving Tree along with those from the other churches provided many of the articles in the gift bags, which were presented to fair attendees by friends of St. Ann Church members. A special thanks to the Knights of Columbus for setting up the site.
The next Kaneohe Service Fair will be held at Kaneohe Community Park on Jan. 16. If you are interested in lending a helping hand, please contact Bernie Reeves or Pam Lotko at dave.bernie@gmail.com or pamlotko@gmail.com.
Above: The gift bags that were handed out at the Kaneohe Service Fair. (Courtesy photo)