Bob and Barbara Spaulding

Husband and wife Bob and Barbara Spaulding deliver hot meals every Sunday, nine months out of the year, to South Maui’s homebound, frail, elderly and disabled. The Spauldings are amongst 28 volunteers who regularly transport cooked meals-to-go from Hale Kau Kau, a soup kitchen aimed at curbing hunger on the island. On each trip, the Spauldings deliver food to as many as 15 homes, taking the time to visit with grateful recipients who are unable for various reasons to shop or cook their own meals. “It’s extremely rewarding to know we feed not only their basic needs, but the soul as well,” Bob Spaulding said. “I realize sometimes it’s the only human contact they have that day,” added Barbara, Spaulding’s wife of 55 years.

The Spauldings say in the 10 years they’ve delivered meals, they’ve experienced great support for the work they do. “Whenever we’ve needed to make a left turn on South Kihei Road, someone gives way. It’s the Maui way, others make allowances so you can do what you need to do,” Mr. Spaulding said. Since the fiscal year opened on July 1, Hale Kau Kau has prepared more than 34,000 meals, a 13 percent increase over the same time period the year before. About three-quarters of the last six month’s meals are served out of a kitchen at St. Theresa Church in Kihei; the rest were delivered to the homebound. The meal program for the homebound has been in existence for about 12 of the 20 years Hale Kau Kau has operated.

Hale Kau Kau’s major fundraiser of the year takes place Saturday at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. The event features live and silent auctions, a buffet dinner with no host bar, and entertainment by local performers Louise Alborano and Tarvin Makia opening for headliner Makana, Hawaii’s youngest slack key guitar master. To attend the fundraiser or make a donation, call 875-8754 or e-mail: hkkmaui@yahoo.com or hkkmariet@gmail.com