Kaua’i’s needy picking up Thanksgiving turkeys

There will be plenty of Thanksgiving leftovers come next weekend if Kaua’i Food Bank officials have anything to do about it.

With funds from a grant from the G. N. Wilcox Foundation, Kaua’i Food Bank officials purchased a record 1,312 turkeys in advance of the holiday, and distributed them to various agencies all over the island Monday.

“It’s all gone out,” said Mickie Diamont, fund development and community relations director of the Kaua’i Food Bank, on Monday afternoon. “People want their turkey (early) to prepare for Thursday.”

Kaua’i Food Bank’s refrigerated trucks delivered 736 turkeys on Monday morning to three centralized locations: Lihu’e Salvation Army (339 turkeys), Hanapepe Salvation Army (330 turkeys), and the Kapa’a Neighborhood Center (97), said Diamont.

The rest of the turkeys were picked up directly by agencies, which also collected the trimmings, such as vegetables and cranberries, in gift baskets, said Diamont.

From there, people, churches, and neighborhood associations picked them up, said Erika Siliado, manager of the Hanapepe Salvation Army.

By 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, Hanapepe had only four turkeys left in some food-bank gift baskets, complete with all the sides, she said. At 2:30 p.m., the Lihu’e Salvation Army had 20 gift baskets left. All were expected to be picked up by the evening,, she added.

The Salvation Army will also start preparing some set-aside turkeys for their annual Wednesday Thanksgiving luncheons in Lihu’e and Hanapepe.

The turkeys are delivered to those who need a helping hand, said Siliado. They apply for a turkey, and, depending on their economic status and availability, they qualify.

For another week, the Salvation Army is taking applications for Christmas, when toys, gift certificates and food will be given away, she said.

“This was a lot of hard work by our staff,” said the food bank’s Diamont. “We gave them to all the people that need them.”

In all, 14,839 pounds of turkey were moved by KFB, she said.