Kapi`olani CC Named a Summer Meals Champion

Kapiʻolani Community College
Contact:
Louise Yamamoto, (808) 734-9513
Director, College Relations, Office for College and Community Relations
Posted: Sep 14, 2016

HONOLULU – In an article that recently appeared in HUD Happenings, and published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Kapi`olani Community College was recognized as a champion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

The SFSP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that ensures that no children 18 years and younger will go hungry during the summer when school is not in session. The goal of the Program is to provide healthy alternatives to junk food and to help kids return to school ready to learn.

Several committed cross-sector partners, such as Hawai`i Literacy, Parents and Children Together (PACT), Susannah Wesley, Hawai`i Public Housing Authority, and the Ecumenical Association for Housing collaborated in this partnership.

Ron Takahashi, Department Chair for Culinary Arts, was cited for his “can do” team of champions who planned and prepared well-balanced meals at reimbursement costs, making the Program possible without the need for additional funding. In total, the team served approximately 20,000 meals to 6,400 underprivileged school kids over seven weeks. Chefs Lee Shinsato, Dave Hamada and the cafeteria staff, Go Cook Hawai`i trainees, plus store room staff Joey Silva, all worked throughout the 7 weeks to prepare the lunches at Kapi`olani CC and then delivered the lunches to five different sites. John Mizokawa, Kapi`olani’s Operations Manager, planned the menu and provided oversight for the entire operations. The five sites served were Kuku'i Gardens, Kuku'i Terrace, YMCA at Nu`uanu, YMCA in Kalihi and Mayor Wright Housing.

For further outreach, the Honolulu Police Department District 1 Community Policing Team helped served lunch to nearly 100 kids who live in Kuku'i Gardens, an affordable housing property in Chinatown in downtown Honolulu.

Daniel Leung, Kapi`olani CC’s Culinary Health and Wellness Coordinator said, “This project is very valuable from a research and development standpoint. We gained a lot of knowledge from the production process, and were able to get feedback from the consumers (children and teens) that will enable us to develop children-friendly healthy school lunch recipes in our Culinary Innovation Center and for our future food processing facility.”