ThanksGIVING
ThanksGIVING – a family shares meals with local homeless families.
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – Todd Matsumoto owns Matsumoto’s Okazuya Restaurant in Kalihi.
About a decade ago, he noticed that many of his friends he grew up with were living homeless along the Kapalama Canal.
“So we made 10 plates and I took it to them and their families. The following year, there was more people so we started doing a little more,” Matsumoto said.
“As the years have gone by we just started doing 50 to about 70 plates. I think we’re now about 100 plates now.”
Each Thanksgiving eve, he and a group of family members and friends volunteer to cook a full feast with all the fixings.
They deliver the food themselves to neighborhoods with large homeless encampments, such as Thomas Square, Kakaako and Iwilei.
Matsumoto says many of the recipients have been on the streets for a while.
He said some people don’t feel comfortable going to a public event or homeless shelter for their Thanksgiving meal.
“A lot of people don’t want to be seen,” Matsumoto said. “Everybody has their own problems.”
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