Sangha of Auspicious Companions

60 Bentos Cooked in the Dark

The night after Hurricane Lowell swept through Kaua’i, with their own power out, Damian and Donna Loo drove to a friend’s house with a backup battery and cooked 60 bentos for elderly neighbors who had nothing left in their refrigerators but spoiling food. What began as one couple’s refusal to look away grew, quietly and organically, into something the Hawaiian word “laulima” captures perfectly: many hands working together. Churches became distribution centers; food trucks cooked extra meals; nieces and nephews made candy bags and handwrote more than 100 cards filled with drawings for kupuna they’d never met. One elder told Donna he was going to pin his card on the wall. Another, a client she visited daily and always found napping on his couch, came outside walking toward her one afternoon — and told her, “I think you’ve nourished me back to life.” The Loos also opened their home for mahjong and dinner nights, knowing that isolation after a storm can be as dangerous as the storm itself.

Be The Change

Identify one neighbor, relative, or acquaintance who lives alone and reach out today with a direct phone call or a handwritten note. Ask one specific question about how they are doing, and truly listen to their answer.