WAILUA — “Come back soon,” said Sady Riggan of the Hilton Garden Inn Kaua‘i Wailua Bay, approaching one of the cars slowing down in the porte cochere Tuesday. “We miss you. We love you.”
Riggan was one of the Hilton’s staff, including General Manager Remon Pagels, who personally greeted each car approaching to receive a food package from a corps of volunteers from the Hilton, the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and American Medical Response.
“This is just one of the several distributions we did to employers taking care of their furloughed employees and their families,” said Kelvin Moniz, KIFB executive director. “This delivery included 100 food packages (sufficient for the nearly 100 Hilton employees currently furloughed). Earlier, Leona Perez, the KIFB programs manager, took care of Kapa‘a Shores with 45 packages, and Pono Kai with enough food for 100 food packages that they preferred to pack on their own.”
Each package had rice, jelly, cream of mushroom and chicken noodle soups, two pounds of hamburger, onions, potatoes, and carrots, and a bag of fresh lettuce, some of which was donated by Sysco Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i, formerly known as Hawaiian Flour Mill Food Service.
Moniz said this was just one day in the week that have several other big distributions on tap, including the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort &Beach Club arranging for distribution to employees and associates, Thursday, and the second County of Kaua‘i food distribution where 500 boxes of food will be distributed in partnership with the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i branch Saturday starting at 2 p.m. at the Hanapepe Recreation Center.
KIFB also maintains a daily pickup service for emergency food at its Nawiliwili warehouse weekdays from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
