Thanksgiving comes early: 300 people attend 22nd annual Meet and Eat

KAILUA-KONA — Turkey, volunteers and the holiday spirit, all wrapped into one.

The 22nd annual Meet and Eat Wednesday night at the Kealakehe Intermediate School fed around 300 people for free from all walks of life — a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving early.

Turkey, cranberry sauce, green salad, rice and desert was dished out by a group of “devoted volunteers,” serving from the same area students get their lunches during regular school hours.

Event organizer Arty Ikeda said the community oriented event had a slew of volunteers who helped put on the meal, so eager to help they were continually arriving through the evening and asking for tasks.

And serve up, they did.

Analena Torres, a fifth grader, said her favorite part was the food, specifically the turkey.

It’s well known throughout the school that this is the place to get a filling dinner, said her benchmate, Charlotte Miller.

The Seventh Day Adventists provide a feed every Wednesday, she said, so this is an extension of that service.

One of the reasons for the name, Meet and Eat, is because the goal is to get people in the community to connect with each other and the less advantaged, said Ikeda.

Part of that was when a ROTC cadet carried a plate of mashed potatoes to a disabled man, then sat down with her own plate. She was soon joined by another student, and another disabled man joined them.

ROTC provided the posting of the colors, a rifle drill and many hands.

Ikeda found a use for those hands, including using long leaves to keep the dessert table free of insects. There were also busboys, some of them from Boy Scout Troop 15.

One final element was the rice collection. Ikeda’s group asked that everyone bring some rice. He said that food pantries keep running out and “a bag can keep you going for a few weeks.”