‘I’m just chief turkey here,” said Salvation Army Maj. Stephen Ball as he prepared to carry a ceremonial cooked bird, wrapped in a purple orchid lei, across the Neal S. Blaisdell Center floor.
The Salvation Army was hosting its 50th annual free Thanksgiving meal gathering after two pandemic years off, so the pressure was on. Without error, Ball delivered the turkey to a stage where Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi cut into it.
Gov.-elect Josh Green, standing by in a sunflower-and-rooster-print apron, would serve the bird, it was announced.
Volunteers, including dozens in Domino’s Pizza uniforms, fanned out with trays of turkey, stuffing, rice, gravy, bread, pie and pineapple. About 600 volunteers altogether prepped, shuttled food and cleaned. A majority of the seats
remained empty during the midday event. Amid the hubbub, Ball shuttled the cut turkey back toward the kitchen and passed it to another volunteer, who left it on a table.
The Salvation Army had planned to feed 2,000 people with 900 pounds of turkey, or about 100 birds,
300 pounds of stuffing,
35 gallons of gravy, 350 pounds of rice, 135 pineapples, 100 gallons of fruit punch and 275 pumpkin pies.
It was Gilberto Chew’s second time as a diner, and he was glad he came. “I was feeling so depressed. I was so tired from work,” said Chew, 58, who wore gray boots and a collared shirt. His job requires moving boxes in a warehouse near the airport, and he lives with a roommate who didn’t want to come to the meal, fearing the ongoing spread of COVID-19. “This took the depression out of me,” he said as a hula halau danced onstage. “This is a release.”
Stephanie Dayton, 71, heard about the event on TV, and she told her friend, who is a widow like her, “Let’s try it!” They took a Handi-Van, a city-run service for people with disabilities, from Halawa, and enjoyed the meal. “Some of it was ono,” Dayton said.
In the end the turnout fell short, and only about 1,100 plates were served, Salvation Army spokesperson David Sayre said.
The leftovers will be distributed through the Salvation Army’s Revolution Hawaii, a program through which young adult missionaries assist homeless
people, said Salvation Army Maj. Phil Lum.
The volunteers floated possible explanations: rainy day, enduring fear of COVID-
19 or word not getting out enough after two years off.
“I was a little disappointed,” Lum said about the turnout not quite reaching 2,000. But he was buoyed by other aspects: the positive atmosphere, the opportunity to share a meal with others, and Blangiardi and Green greeting and high-fiving people as they walked in on a red carpet. “It’s just so good to see them come out and meet the people and serve in that capacity,” he said. “I think that made people feel welcome.”
By contrast, the demand to volunteer was beyond what the Salvation Army could accommodate. Within 10 minutes of the volunteer registration web portal opening, Lum said, the 600 slots all filled up. The fact that so many people wanted to give their time, he said, “That’s what makes this event so wonderful.”
Additional help came in the form of donations. The City and County of Honolulu, via Blangiardi, donated the event space, and more than 50 local companies
donated food, paper goods and flowers.
This week the Salvation Army provided over 6,000 Thanksgiving meals across the state, Sayre said.
“Tomorrow people are going to be hungry again,” Lum said. “But the Salvation Army continues to help people.”
Monetary donations to support the nonprofit’s feeding efforts during the holidays and year-round can be made online at ThanksgivingHawaii.org. Additionally, through Dec. 31, customers at Foodland and Sack N Save stores can make donations at checkout through the “Share a Holiday Feast” program. Customers can donate cash, change or use Maika‘i points to help. Those donations will be turned into Foodland gift certificates and distributed to families in need on each island where the donations were
received.
