Bargain Hunting for a Good Cause

Hospice staff and volunteers

Lisa Mae and Temo Cadena

By Léo Azambuja
The parking lot of the commercial building across the highway from Kaunakakai Baptist Church was busy Saturday morning, even though none of the businesses were open. It was full of shoppers looking for a bargain — and more importantly, to support Molokai’s only hospice.
“Hospice Maui-Molokai puts on the annual yard sale. People donate items from all over the community; and we have quality items. We are well known, so people look forward to the sale,” said Barbara Helm, bereavement coordinator and grief counselor at the hospice.
There were shoes for only a buck, furniture, toys, board games, cooking utensils, dishes, small appliances, bedding, jewelry, baby strollers, holiday decorations, plants, musical instruments, luggage, artwork and clothes, lots of clothes.
Duke Carney was stoked for scoring a beautiful silver flute in top shape. He already knows how to play piano, and was eager to learn the flute.
“Music is in my blood already,” the teenager said.
This was the 11th edition of the yard sale, according to Helm. The fundraiser for the hospice has grown since its first year, with many people donating goods throughout the year. About 200 people come to the yard sale each year, she said, as it provides “quality items for the community at a very, very reasonable price.”
The yard sale opened at 8 a.m. but organizers were already on the site at 6 a.m. putting everything together. By noon, the yard sale was over.
Mostly everyone who came left with something. There were some who couldn’t find anything but still left a donation to the hospice. Others offered to pay more than what the price tag was asking for.
More than a bargain sale, it felt like a community event. As residents came and went, Dan Reed entertained the crowd, doing constant announcements on a megaphone, and making sure to highlight the “blue light specials.”
Besides being a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization, the annual yard sale has an important function: to bring visibility for the hospice and its staff to the community, according to Helm.
“There are many people who don’t realize that there is hospice service on the island. We do it for outreach, to be present in the community, so that they know our faces, they know who we are,” she said.
The hospice has a medical doctor, nurses, health aides, social workers, a chaplain, a bereavement counselor and volunteers who help those who are terminally or seriously ill.
“We come in as a team,” Helm said, adding the services allow for those patients to stay at home. “It’s the medical team that comes to the home (of the patient), instead of them having to go out to the doctors’ offices or hospitals.”
The next hospice event is the annual Molokai Lantern Ceremony — remembering those who have passed away — at the Molokai Community Health Center in early November.
In December, the hospice does bereavement outreach by offering red paper doves to be displayed on a Christmas tree by Bank of Hawaii. People can write on a dove the name of a loved one who have passed away and place it on the tree.
“That’s a time when many people make an annual donation to the hospice,” Helm said.
Visit www.hospicemaui.org for more information or to donate. Helm said if anyone wants to donate specifically to Molokai services, to make sure to mention it when donating.