Steam rose from plates of chili and rice at the Kauaʻi Community College cafeteria as students gathered for a special free hot meal in October. It was one of multiple hot meals prepared by culinary students and instructors at Kapiʻolani Community College, then frozen and flown over.
For many Kauaʻi students— juggling damaged homes, prolonged power outages and academic deadlines after Hurricane Lowell—the lunches offer far more than physical nourishment.
Student Hiʻilani Cremer said she was not able to work for two weeks after the storm, and knowing she had something to eat at school helped tremendously.
“Mahalo nui loa to Kapiʻolani Community College. We thank you so much for your generosity,” said Cremer.
Student Brandon Routh added, “It helps a lot because you know we did miss a lot of work, so our paychecks were impacted because we’re not salary workers so these meals help because you know we don’t have to go buy food.”
College helping college
The meal preparation initiative came together following a conversation between Kauaʻi CC Chancellor Margaret Sanchez and Kapiʻolani CC Chancellor Misaki Takabayashi, who sought immediate, meaningful ways to support the Garden Isle campus after the hurricane disrupted the lives of an estimated 80% of students.
“The gift of hot meals from Kapiʻolani Community College not only provides meals for our campus ʻohana, but also allows us to come together and heal as a community,” Sanchez said. “This gift demonstrates the aloha we have across our 糖心视频 Community Colleges.”
The urgent need for food relief was underscored by a Kauaʻi CC student impact survey, which revealed that 39.2% of responding students lost food or groceries and continued to worry about reliable access to meals and essential supplies. Compounding those hardships, 22.8% sustained direct damage to their homes, 73.4% lost electricity and internet, and 53.2% experienced a loss of income or work hours
From across the channel, Kapiʻolani CC was eager to answer the call.
“When one of our campuses needs help, we show up for each other,” Takabayashi said. “We’re part of one system, and it’s been encouraging to see our community come together to support the relief and recovery efforts. For our students, being part of that effort is a chance to see, and experience, how much it matters when people help one another.”
Applying learning to real-world needs
To produce the dishes, culinary arts students and instructors mobilized inside Kapiʻolani CC’s teaching kitchen over multiple sessions. Preparing roughly 150–200 pounds of food weekly, the culinary team utilized a specialized cook-chill method to ensure food safety before packaging and flying the meals, which included sweet sour pork and chicken curry, to Kauaʻi.
For Kapiʻolani CC Chef Alan Tsuchiyama, a Līhuʻe native who grew up minutes from the campus, the mission was deeply personal.
“I think we should give Kauaʻi a hand in any way we can, you know, whether it be financial or whether it be by food or volunteering. I think that is important—that we should always be helping those who need help,” Tsuchiyama said.
Third-year culinary student Nalu Iwata eagerly volunteered to cook.
“I’m very proud of doing this work,” Iwata said. “Enjoy it, because we want to help you guys out. We know how much you guys have been through.”