LIHU‘E — Four hundred families on Kaua‘i received Farmers to Families food boxes through the efforts of a single-day distribution coordinated by the Liliuokalani Trust on Tuesday.
“This is the fifth delivery of the Farmers to Families food boxes funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said Shereen Ho‘opi‘i, the Liliuokalani Trust Kaua‘i director. “The boxes were packed by Ham Produce &Seafood and shipped here.”
The Liliuokalani Trust parking lot served as the central distribution point from where portions were shipped to various points around the island from where further distribution breakdowns brought the boxes to the families.
Boys &Girls Club, the county’s Agency on Elderly Affairs, the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League, and the Liliuokalani Trust served as community distributors to get the boxes to the families.
“We have our staff delivering to Liliuokalani Trust families in Anahola, the North Shore, and other areas,” Ho‘opi‘i said. “The Boys &Girls Club have distributions to their families in West Kaua‘i, Kapa‘a, and the Lihu‘e clubhouse programs, and the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League have their five associations delivering to families from Kapa‘a to Kekaha.”
Each box contained a variety of farm-produced food, including the Produce Box that combined fresh produce like potatoes, carrots, papaya, and fresh pineapple with blocks of butter and cheese, a Protein Box that included frozen chicken, a pound of frankfurters, and salmon burgers, and a gallon of milk.
“The families are excited about getting all this food,” said Tina Albao, the Boys &Girls Club Kaua‘i Director of Operations and Development. “We have 21 boxes being dropped off at the West Kaua‘i site, 36 boxes at the Kapa‘a Clubhouse, and we’re using our staff to distribute 43 boxes in a drive-through, no contact delivery format at the Lihu‘e Clubhouse.”
Delivery to the Agency of Elderly Affairs consisted of 50 boxes that were distributed to individual families by the Agency’s staff, and 100 boxes went to the KPWFL who has had previous experience distributing Community Supported Agriculture produce boxes on a weekly basis through ‘Aina Ho‘okupu O Kilauea.
“This is the pono thing to do,” said KPWFL president Teddy Arroyo. “We would rather be on the field playing football, but with all the hardship going on because of the pandemic, there is a need. We have five associations that come from Kapa‘a to Kekaha, and we definitely want to take care of the community. We need to be known as more than football players and cheerleaders. We will continue to do this as long as there is a need.”
Ho‘opi‘i said she’ll learn about the next Farmers to Families grant by the end of February.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
