Wearing a chef's hat and wielding a giant kitchen fork, Lew, 25, carefully scooped out a heaping helping of small rocks and commended herself on the effort: "Good job, Diane!"

It brought a laugh of appreciation from the hundred or so people in attendance.

Lew's father, watching from the sidelines, said the comment was unusual for his daughter, a Lanakila client for six years.

"She cannot talk very well," said Mowdy Lew, adding that his daughter's progress had been remarkable since she began coming to the facility. "I'm really, really impressed with the way they do things here."

Lanakila president and CEO Marian Tsuji said the facility originated 65 years ago as a

Guests and staff of Lanakila rehab center line up for lunch prepared at a facility being borrowed while the Lanakila kitchen is renovated. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Lanakila has since expanded to serve thousands each year who have cognitive, physical, social and economic difficulties. It offers a range of training programs, including one that gives clients job skills in custodial, sales, grounds maintenance, food service and other fields.

The rehab facility and kitchen at 1809 Bachelot St., built 35 years ago, needs a major renovation, Tsuji said. It can prepare around 3,000 meals a day: 2,000 for Lanakila Meals on Wheels, and another thousand under contract, she said.

After the renovation, the kitchen will be able to double its output while helping more people overcome personal challenges to more fulfilling lives.

"This is a work-training kitchen, so it's done by a mix of clients and staff," Tsuji said. "The idea is to get the clients employed at the end of our training program."

Extra equipment will be installed to reduce cooking time, while other changes will greatly expand kitchen space.

"Our storage space is so limited right now that we've got to get daily food deliveries," Tsuji said. "And before you can get additional deliveries, you've got to use the food you've already got, to clear out the refrigerator."

That won't be a problem in the new kitchen, which should be completed in about nine months, Tsuji said. Then the second phase of renovation — work on the upstairs portion of the building — will begin.

Janis Akuna, chairwoman of the Lanakila Capital Campaign — which has raised $4 million of the nearly $7 million needed to renovate — said the facility secured a kitchen in a state building at the top of Waimano Home Road to prepare meals while the Bachelot Street facility is closed.

In time, Akuna said, more aging residents will depend on Lanakila Meals on Wheels, the largest such program in the state, serving around a half million meals a year.

"Obviously we're very thrilled with this organization and the services they provide," said Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona Jr., honorary Lanakila Capital Campaign chairman, who was at the groundbreaking.

After the breaking of ground and blessing, dignitaries — along with Diane Lew, her fellow clients and members of the staff — lined up at the kitchen counter to be served meals of kalua turkey, Chinese buns, a cabbage salad and Lanakila's own special cheesecake bread pudding.

"That's our own secret pudding recipe," explained Lanakila development coordinator Marlena Willette. "We came up with it one day after we made way too much cheese cake."