NAWILIWILI — The Visitor Industry Charity Walk is coming up, Aug. 20, and Royal Sonesta Kaua‘i Resort hosted an open market and craft fair Friday to help meet the $300,000 goal set by the Hawai‘i Lodging and Tourism Association, Kaua‘i Chapter.
“The amazing thing about this open market is that a lot of the items like the plants, tropical flower assortments, gourds, and more are from the garden we have on property,” said Melanie Matsumoto, one of the Sonesta associates helping with the market that ran from 10 a.m. to noon. “We can’t help it about the apples, they’re not grown here, but a lot of the items are from the garden and from an associate’s home garden that they brought in for this. We also have a variety of handmade items like scrunchies that associates made and donated.”
The Kaua‘i Court also housed a culinary station. Chef Rey Montemayor offered shoppers a variety of dining options from a simple to-go Spam musubi to more exotic Filipino food-inspired preparations, including dessert options enveloped with live entertainment from the garden.
“What’s this for?” a shopper inquired.
The Visitor Industry Charity Walk, hosted by the Hawai‘i Lodging and Tourism Association, will return to an in-person event statewide on Aug. 20.
Starting in 1978 as a fundraising effort, the HLTA voted to extend the reach of support due to its fundraising capacity. Today, the Charity Walk helps nearly 60 Kaua‘i nonprofits with money raised on Kaua‘i. Since its start in 1978, the Charity Walk has raised more than $40 million throughout Hawai‘i.
“I can shop, now,” the shopper said, getting swallowed by the ballroom where 20 Kaua‘i crafters offered their wares ranging from woven hat brims to jewelry, artwork, hand-made sewn items, and more.
The next item on the Charity Walk calendar is the Countdown to Charity Walk that takes place Aug. 13 at the Kukui Grove Center, where some of the nonprofit groups benefiting from the Charity Walk will be available to talk about their individual programs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
As the sun begins its descent on the Hawai‘i Primary Election Day, the HLTA, Kaua‘i Chapter will wake up the Kaua‘i Bowl with its annual Bowling event from 5 to 8 p.m.
The 43rd Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk gets underway at the Vidinha Stadium soccer fields on Aug. 20 starting at 8 a.m.
