By Dr. Chuck Kelley
Dr. Richard Kelley is traveling. His column will return December 5.

For the Kelley family and the Outrigger Enterprises Group and its ‘ohana, the spirit of Thanksgiving arrived a few days early this year, as Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii (RMHC-Hawaii, www.ronaldhousehawaii.org) honored them at its fourth annual “Share a Night” fundraising gala last Saturday evening in the Coral Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

In making the presentation, RMHC-Hawaii President Jerri Chong spoke about Outrigger’s quarter-century history of helping RMHC fulfill its mission of providing low-cost rooms to families from the neighbor islands and around the Pacific who come to Honolulu, often for extended stays, to be with their children who are hospitalized here for conditions that can’t be treated closer to home.

“Everyone knows about the Kelleys’ success in business and the benchmarks they’ve set in the hotel and hospitality industry,” said Chong. “But what you may not know is that the Kelleys, beginning with Hawaii hotel industry pioneers Roy and Estelle Kelley, have a long history – a tradition – of service to the community. The number of organizations and individuals who have been touched by this family is amazing. We consider them much-loved members of the Ronald McDonald House ‘ohana. I’d like to share their story with you, so you’ll understand why.

“Twenty-five years ago, Hawaii’s Ronald McDonald House was still in the planning stages. We were working on permits, zoning issues, and renovation plans. We had launched a capital campaign and were reaching out to the community for help. But one man was two steps ahead of us. He picked up the phone and asked, ‘What’s happening to the families who need help now? Where do they go while they’re waiting for the Ronald McDonald House to open?’

“That man was Dr. Richard Kelley. He was a businessman, and he knew that a project like this would take time and money. But he was also a physician. He knew about illness, and he knew that for many families, there was no time. They needed help now.

“So without even being asked, Dr. Kelley stepped forward, and with the full support of the Kelley family and the entire hotel chain, Outrigger became a temporary Ronald McDonald House, providing thousands of nights of lodging for the families of very sick children.

“They did this — for free — for more than two years, until we were able to open our first House in 1987. Even then, the Kelleys and Outrigger continued providing rooms for our overflow families. Whenever we were full, a room was always available at Outrigger until space opened up, and we could bring the families home to the Ronald McDonald House. They have done this for 22 years. They are the reason why we have never had to turn a family away.

“For our families, it meant more than you could ever know. For Outrigger, it meant providing almost 20,000 room-nights over the past two decades. And in today’s market, it means a gift from Outrigger valued at almost $3 million.

“Angels come in many different shapes and sizes. There are angels who walk among us, who live and work in our community. They extend their kindness without any expectation. We owe such a debt of gratitude to the Kelleys and Outrigger Hotels. They are our angels.”

Chong then presented the award, a specially-made, framed Hawaiian quilt that included several symbolic images – a pineapple to represent Outrigger’s hospitality and aloha; an ulu (breadfruit), conveying the abundance of all the good things in life; a honu (sea turtle) symbolizing longevity, peace, and good luck; and an aloalo (hibiscus, the state flower), representing the beauty of these islands.

Accepting the award, Dr. Kelley said he knew he was speaking for all the members of the Kelley family and for the entire Outrigger ‘ohana. “We are all deeply touched by the honor you have given us,” he said, and thanked “all of the staff and volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House for the tireless and often unrecognized work they do day after day. And thanks to everyone in the room tonight for showing your support of a truly great organization.”

Dr. Kelley then spoke about how the Kelleys and Outrigger first got involved with the Ronald McDonald House.

“It probably has its roots in the days when I was still in medical training,” he said. “Interns and residents are exposed to a great many experiences, and one of the things that made a big impression on me was to see how terrifying it is for parents to have a child who is seriously ill or injured. You’d see these families in the hospital, and your heart would just go out to them. I felt the same a few years later when I was practicing at Queen’s Hospital, even though, as the director of the laboratories, I spent less time with direct patient care.

“So later, after I had joined my parents in the hotel business, when I heard about the plans for Honolulu’s first Ronald McDonald House, I also learned that it was not uncommon for neighbor island families with an ill or injured child in an Oahu hospital to camp out in a rental car in the hospital parking lot. That was their way of coping with the fact that children in neonatal or pediatric intensive care can be hospitalized for weeks, sometimes for months. If the parents did not have ‘ohana or friends on Oahu, and could not afford to stay at a hotel, that was their solution.

“Of course, at Outrigger we have rooms. So helping these families during the period before the Ronald McDonald House could open didn’t exactly seem like brain surgery or rocket science. My family and I, and all of our colleagues at Outrigger and OHANA hotels, were just happy that we were in a position to make some of these rooms available. It seemed like what any neighbor would do. And it still does.”

Jean Rolles added her thanks to RMHC-Hawaii for the honor and said, “It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to put yourself in the shoes of families whose children, in many cases, are fighting for their lives. I, too, have been there, with a grandchild who was gravely ill, and spent many long hours in the hospital at his bedside. I was lucky that I had a bed to go home to at night. Not all parents are able to do so.

“It was our parents, Roy and Estelle Kelley, who showed us the way. They gave rooms to those in need – and we have followed in their footsteps. We feel blessed to be involved in a family business that enables us to offer this kind of help, to relieve at least this one worry that can add so much to people’s stress when a child is hospitalized with a serious condition.

“Over the years we have been able to help families from the neighbor islands and elsewhere around the Pacific when they come to Honolulu to be with their children in the hospital. We plan to continue to do this and hope that in the future, when the Ronald McDonald House is full, there will always be ‘a room at the inn’ for them.

“Thank you ALL so very much for this great evening. It is truly an honor for us to be able to collaborate with an organization like Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii, which has such an important mission.”

Before the honorees left the stage, Mayor Mufi Hannemann presented commendations from the City and County of Honolulu. He said the Kelleys always make sure that local folks will feel at home at Outrigger, and he noted how, beginning with Roy and Estelle, “the Kelleys give back to the community time and time again.”

Earlier in the evening, 21-month-old Ronald McDonald House “miracle baby” Kaylee James and her dad Dennis took the stage to tell their story. Kaylee and her twin sister Mia, who passed away shortly after her birth, were born over three months prematurely on the island of Kwajalein, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, about 2,400 miles from here. Dennis flew to Honolulu with Kaylee in an effort to save her. When they arrived, a social worker asked where he would be staying while Kaylee was hospitalized. He said he didn’t know a soul on Oahu and would probably stay in his rental car in the parking lot – but didn’t know what he would do when his wife Angie and Kaylee’s 4-year-old sister Kierah joined them a few days later. The social worker put him in touch with the Ronald McDonald House, which became the family’s home – and ‘ohana – for four months, as Kaylee underwent several surgeries and numerous procedures before she was healthy enough to go home. (Dennis and Kaylee were able to attend the dinner last week because they were in Honolulu again, once more at the Ronald McDonald House, for follow-up.)

As Dennis James spoke, cradling Kaylee in his arms, the little girl, whose good spirits betrayed nothing of the nightmare she had endured, stole the show, delighting the audience, as she repeatedly reached for the microphone and enjoyed the wonderful squeaking noise it made as she moved it.

Then Andy Bumatai and the Society of Seven entertained the crowd of more than 600, juggling their high-energy performance – including some of Dr. Kelley’s favorite songs – into their long-standing commitment at the Outrigger Waikiki’s Main Showroom without missing a beat.

A private nonprofit organization, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii offers support for families with seriously ill children with its two Ronald McDonald Houses, located in Manoa Valley. RMHC Hawaii also provides the Ronald McDonald House Family Room, a respite and support center inside Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children. At the Family Room, most of those assisted are families from Oahu.

RMHC Hawaii programs strengthen and support families during a very difficult time. For a child, having family members nearby to give love and comfort may be as crucial as medical care itself. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii relies heavily on community support to keep the houses running, not only through monetary donations, but also through countless hours of personal time committed by volunteers.