Food, fellowship fill annual meal
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
By 10 a.m. yesterday, the line for a free Christmas meal extended from the serving tables at Gateway Park in downtown Honolulu almost to Beretania Street.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Three hours later, more than 80 volunteers from Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Hilton Grand Vacation Clubs had served up 30-plus turkeys with all the trimmings, buckets of macaroni salad, tray after tray of sheet cake and, by all accounts, a superb strawberry mousse.
Gateway Park was full yesterday as Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Hilton Grand Vacations Club joined to serve their traditional Christmas meal. More than 80 volunteers served up turkey, macaroni salad and other treats.
When the last serving table had been folded up and carted off until next year, organizers estimated that 600 people, many of them homeless and all of them hungry for a good meal if not the companionship that came with it, had partaken in the annual free Christmas Day meal hosted by Hilton and organized by the Kau Kau Wagon.
"Very good, very tasty," Carlipo Del Rosario declared, as he washed down the last of his second helping of food with a plastic cup of lilikoi punch.
"I had sweet potato, turkey and stuffing, pineapple, watermelon, peaches, a dinner roll, a big piece of apple pie, cake, two cups of coffee and lots of candy," said Del Rosario, 56.
He said he makes a point of visiting the free feed every year.
"When I have the opportunity to eat good food for free, I stuff myself till I can't walk. It makes up for all those other days when I don't eat good food or I don't eat at all," Del Rosario said.
Originally from the Big Island, he used to work for a city and county road crew, but has been "on the streets" for the past three years. At night, he sleeps "wherever" and showers and shaves occasionally at a friend's house.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Terry Smith counts himself among the luckier ones. At least he has a roof over his head, even if "I'm just barely keeping my head above water."
The annual Christmas meal also offered guests a choice of two gifts from six tables full of clothes, books, toiletries and toys.
He works part time, usually no more than 20 hours a week, as a laborer and earns minimum wage.
"I don't spend any money on groceries when I'm broke; I just go to one of the shelters to eat," said Smith, 49.
Yesterday marked his third Christmas meal at Gateway Park.
"A lot of these people are unemployable. That's not to say anything bad about them. It's just hard to find a job when you're 50 or older," Smith said.
Jean, who didn't want to give her last name, said her family gave up on her a decade ago. Now 46, she said she worked for years at menial jobs, mostly in fast food, "before I just gave up."
"Everything went just to pay the rent," Jean said. The last time she exchanged gifts with her family or anyone else was "a long time ago," she said, peering off momentarily into the distance, perhaps recalling better times.
Euphemia McCorriston Tawney, 84, walks to the park from her apartment in Kapalama every Christmas to enjoy the free meal. She takes the same route each year — King Street and then on to Hotel Street "where all the action is."
"It beats cooking," said the mother of five grown children.
Carl, 52, who also would not give a last name, was born in Brazil. He spent 35 years on the Mainland and the past eight years in Hawai'i. If not for some deep-seated psychological and emotional scars, he might have been an artist or a musician, Carl said.
Now, he spends nights riding TheBus and days sleeping at various beach parks.
Still, he said, he is grateful.
"I feel very lucky to be in Hawai'i," Carl said.
