NAWILIWILI — Bob Gunter of the Koloa Rum Company said that, just because the label reads “Koloa Rum,” it doesn’t mean people can drink it.
Gunter was supervising delivery of more than 1,750 bottles of hand sanitizers that were distributed through a collaborative effort between Koloa Rum Company, the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and the various Lions Clubs on Kaua‘i Thursday.
Gunter told the Lions assigned to deliver the 250 ml bottles to kupuna from Kekaha to the North Shore that “This has been denatured. That makes it not consumer-safe. You can’t drink it. Everything has been certified and labelled.”
Lion Roy Nishida of the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, coordinator of the collaborative effort, said the distribution covered most of the care facilities on the island as well as the Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity homeless shelter and the KEO caravan that regularly visits sites where homeless populations frequent.
“This brings back memories of the days when I started the caravan program,” Nishida said. “Even Bob, he was a Cub for the Lions Club, whom I sponsored. I’m glad we could take care of the Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity.”
Lion Sandi Sterker of the Koloa Lions Club said the hand sanitizers are something the kupuna could use, because not only are they hard to find, the kupuna rely on The Kaua‘i Bus for their transportation needs.
Kelvin Moniz, KIFB executive director, said Gather Federal Credit Union provided reusable shopping bags to accompany the sanitizers that were quickly taken up by the Lions who had gathered in anticipation of the shipment’s arrival to the KIFB warehouse.
Gunter added that Marynel Valenzuela and her Inkspot Printing family printed up the special labeling that had to be manually affixed to each bottle being sent out.
“We’re all in this together,” Moniz said. “We’re going to get through this COVID-19 by everyone pulling together.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
