"This is more than just a facility improvement," said Marian Tsuji, president and chief executive officer of Lanakila. "This newly renovated space will allow us to meet the tremendous demand for meals by our growing senior population. At the same time, it will provide more opportunities for people with challenged lives to live independently."

Renovations were made to the new kitchen and preparation areas, expanded training areas and a new cafe-style dining area at the Bachelot Street facility. Lanakila also is launching a new catering and wholesale menu, with proceeds going to support its programs.

Starting at 4 a.m. weekdays, 18 clients in training and nine staff members steam up to 300 pounds of rice and crank up the four new 60-gallon kettles for the daily menus of stews, spaghetti or soups.

Tara Kimura, 20, is in her second month of the nine-month training program at Lanakila and hopes to find a job in a professional kitchen.

Her duties include packing the food for the Meals on Wheels delivery, cooking rice and cleaning up.

"This is a good place to work," she said. "It's nice and clean."

The renovations are part of the first phase of an ongoing $6.7 million capital improvement campaign at Lanakila which started in 2002 in anticipation of increased need from a growing senior population in Hawai'i. So far, almost $4 million has been raised from both private and public sources.

Frank Chun, the kitchen manager, said the improvements help not only those being fed, but the clients in the training program.

"When they come in a lot are straight out of high school," Chun said. "As they gain the experience and the knowledge, they learn they can handle the job. Once they finish, I put their skills up against anybody."

Lanakila Meals on Wheels is the largest program in Hawai'i, serving 2,000 meals a day. The program also offers group dining at 33 community sites as well as home-delivered meals to O'ahu residents. About half a million meals, including holiday meals, are prepared and served annually.

Robert Nehmad, who coordinates volunteers from Temple Emanu-El for the Lanakila Meals on Wheels Program, said delivering the meals provides a much needed service.

"If nothing else, it provides nourishment," Nehmad said. "But I do believe that we may be the only other person they see all day. A lot of them are very lonely. Even if for a minute or two, it makes them feel better."

The next phase of the renovation will be for the second floor, including roof repairs and electrical and plumbing modifications to meet current environmental, accessibility and safety standards for the main Bachelot facility and the annex facility in Wahiawa.

A mini-apartment where clients will learn home-management skills and an educational area for employment research and computer skills training for the Adult Day Service clients are also in the design for the Bachelot facility.

For information about Lanakila, call 531-0555 or visit www.lanakilahawaii.org.

Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.