Chachas Hawaiian Grill and Chelsy Navarro

Angels walk among us, and one is Chelsy Navarro at Chacha’s Hawaiian Grill on Coburg Road in Eugene, Oregon. Whenever crises have hit, she has given hot meals to those in need. During January’s severe ice storm, she opened her restaurant using back-up generators and gave free food to the electrical linemen, firefighters, paramedics and others fighting the elements to restore our community. In the next few days, she intends to take her catering truck to ravaged outlying communities to feed people who haven’t had a real meal in nearly a week.

She has selflessly served others with her delicious food during other disasters, too, including the Holiday Farm Fire up the McKenzie. Chelsy also held fundraisers for her native Maui after the devastating Lahaina blaze.

When I went to meet her and to hug her for feeding people, she shared a story that shook me, as a doctor and human being. Chelsy has fought a rare medical disorder called achalasia, where her esophagus doesn’t allow food and liquids to pass into her stomach correctly. Her health deteriorated so badly that in 2023, she was given three options: She was so malnourished she could choose to go on hospice. She could have her esophagus removed, have a g-tube and never eat by mouth again. Or she could have a dangerous but potentially life-saving surgery to repair her swallowing tube. As the only breadwinner for her family, and a young person, Chelsy opted for surgery.

But the night before her surgery, OHSU informed her that her insurance would not cover her costs because they were “out of network,” meaning she would have to pay $50,000 in cash that day to have surgery. She simply went where she was referred by her physician and never saw this coming. Chelsy was able to raise $19,000 and OHSU went ahead with the surgery in July of 2023.

She is feeling much better, but now her family — including an 8-year-old, a toddler and a baby on the way — is facing huge medical bills and might have to declare bankruptcy, forcing Chelsy to close her beloved Chacha’s Hawaiian Grill.

Then the ice storm hit. But she just kept going, serving those in need and doing all she can to support others, all while quietly suffering herself.

I asked her why she didn’t set up a GoFundMe for herself and she said, “That isn’t how my dad raised me. I can’t ask for help for myself when I see others suffering. So, I just kept working and hoping God would see me.”

God sees you, Chelsy. He sees what you’ve always done to help your community and feed His people. Our family joined hands with her together to give thanks for her life and the work she does to help others.

Please join me in supporting Chacha’s Hawaiian Grill and Chelsy Navarro and her family.