KIHEI - The manager of the Hale Kau Kau program and the University of Hawaii Maui College Dental Assisting Program received vocational service awards from the Rotary Club of Kihei Sunrise.
At the recent meeting, the club also honored two scholarship winners.
Tina Draper, who runs the Hale Kau Kau program at St. Theresa Church that offers free meals to Maui's hungry, received the Individual Vocational Service Award. She was recognized for her leadership and service to the nonprofit organization, the only agency on Maui that serves meals to the hungry every day of the year.
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Feted at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Kihei Sunrise were (from left) Tina Draper, Individual Vocational Service Award winner; Courtney Ka‘a‘a and Rose Ann Navarro, recipients of the Capanash/Corbett Memorial Scholarships; and Joyce Yamada, director of the University of Hawaii Maui College Dental Assisting Program, who received the Community Vocational Service Award for her organization.
Although Hale Kau Kau offers a hot, nutritious meal to anyone who is hungry, the target group includes the homeless, the working poor, those with illnesses or problems that impact their ability to provide for themselves, such as mental illness and substance abuse, the homebound elderly, and the sick and disabled.
Joyce Yamada, director of the UH-Maui College Dental Assisting Program, accepted the Community Vocational Service Award for her program, a two-semester curriculum that provides students with the skills required to succeed in the dental profession. The program also gets out in the community, with 17 students volunteering for the "Catch A Smile" program and interacting with 125 1st-graders at Kihei Elementary.
Two students from the Dental Assisting Program, Courtney Ka'a'a and Rose Ann Navarro, were the recipients of the club's annual Doris Ann Capanash/Pat Corbett Memorial Scholarship awards. Capanash was the wife of past Rotary District 5000 Assistant District Gov. Ron Capanash. Corbett was an active member of the Rotary Club of Kihei Sunrise, having served on the board of directors for four years. Both women were actively involved in promoting quality educational experiences for students on Maui.
Ka'a'a received a $500 scholarship from the scholarship fund and is currently completing the Dental Assisting Program. She plans to continue to take the requisite classes to move into the dental hygiene program. She has worked at the Learning Center on campus as a part-time receptionist and tutor.
Navarro received a $250 scholarship and has earned an associate degree in liberal arts. She will be finishing the Dental Assisting Program and moving on to become a dental hygienist. She currently is employed at Kahana Family Dental.
