KLC Foundation Relay For Life Breakfast

Relay For Life Breakfast Project

I first heard about American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life at a Kamehameha Lions Club ad hoc committee meeting to analyze existing service projects. 'The setting was right. Not paying attention to anything else besides consuming my favorite turkey sandwich provided by the host, I said yes to the chair question without a lot of thought. Getting up at 1:30AM to get to the Magic Island site by 3:00 AM to prepare 330 meals by 5:30AM took a back seat to turkey at that moment.

Our club’s experiences working with ACS Coordinator Rod Tam in 2009 provided valuable knowledge. With this knowledge and the new ad hoc committees recommendations in project analysis in terms of pre-planning, self and volunteer evaluations, communication, documentation, scheduling and critique helped create a better view of the task at-hand.

On July 18, 2010, we executed a successful breakfast for the “relayers”. The plan was to create a workable configuration with one goal in mind, besides reducing stress and that was to decrease preparation and serving time. We accomplished our goal by adding another wok, communicating with volunteers explaining their job positions prior to project at hand and serving line management. Ten Kamehameha Lions and the Zone 1 Region Chair participated in the project.

Result: 330 servings within 45 minutes or approximately 8 seconds per customer.

Lastly, we critiqued the project and offered recommendations to improve the project next year.

Now, what was I saying about my favorite sandwich - two slices of fresh San Francisco sour dough bread coated with Best food mayo, Trader Joe's pumpkin butter and cranberry jelly topped with three slices of smoked turkey breast and one romaine lettuce leaf sandwich accompanied by a chilled glass of Tavel French rose wine priceless. Bring on the next service project.

Story and photos by Mel Tom, Kamehameha Lions Club