Hedy Udarbe and Cathy Collins were honored as kupuna advocates at the annual MEO luncheon. Photo Courtesy MEO

More than 450 Maui seniors gathered Saturday for the 53rd kupuna aloha luncheon to meet up with friends, partake in a lunch buffet, take home some prize drawings and honor Kupuna Advocates of the Year Kathy Collins and Hedy Udarbe.

“Our kupuna carry the knowledge. They carry the spirit and the cultural continuity of our island,” Mayor Richard Bissen said at the luncheon. “It is our kuleana to ensure that they are honored and included and most importantly, protected.”

Collins is well known in the community as a radio personality, storyteller, theater, film and TV actress. She is also an emcee of many community events, including the Kupuna Aloha Luncheon and the Maui County senior fair. In fact, Collins revived her alter ego, Tita, for the gathering, telling the Japanese fable “Issun-boshi” in Pidgin.

She spent much of her life working at Hale Mahaolu, offering information on home personal care and other services and financial assistance, and Kaunoa Senior Services, where she ran the congregate meal program and planned events and activities for kupuna. She also was involved in organizing the Maui branch office of the Alzheimer’s Association Hawaii and the annual memory walk fundraiser.

The event inside the Grand Wailea ballroom was hosted by the Maui County Planning and Coordinating Council and produced by Maui Economic Opportunity.

According to MEO leaders, the council is an organization of leaders of Maui County’s senior clubs under MEO’s umbrella of services.

MEO buses transported about 300 kupuna to and from the event, a service provided under a transportation grant.

Udarbe and Collins received certificates from the state Legislature, presented by state Sen. Troy Hashimoto and Reps. Kyle Yamashita and Tyson Miyake, and congratulatory remarks provided by Maui County council members Yuki Lei Sugimura and Tasha Kama, both past honorees of the award.

Organizers said the cost for the event and meals is paid for by the senior clubs through fundraisers, the attendees and money raised through advertising tables.

The annual luncheon began more than five decades ago through the effort of former MEO executive director and former House Speaker Joe Souki.