NAWILIWILI — Island School students representing the school’s Student Council in grades K through 5 visited the Kauai Independent Food Bank facility on Tuesday as an educational field trip for the Student Council’s food drive campaign that ends on Friday morning.
The trip to the KIFB facility was accompanied by a sampling collection of the ongoing campaign, and 85 pounds of assorted food was used to trace the path of donated foods getting to the tables of hungry people.
“I hope this motivates you to tell other people about the impact of contributed food,” said Shantelle Shimogawa, an Island School teacher and advisor to the campaign. “Other students and their families can bring food up until Thursday. We’ll even accept food on early Friday morning. Last year, we collected more than 3,000 pounds of food. This year, we’re hoping to do better than that.”
KIFB executive director Kelvin Moniz said all of the food, no matter how large or small, makes a big impact on people who, for any reason, are hungry.
He noted that during this holiday season, demand for food increases as people celebrate the holidays with food, and contributions of food, or funds to purchase food are appreciated as food banks gear up for the need for food.
The Kauai Independent Food Bank is hosting a drive-through food distribution on Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Kauai Veterans Center located on Veterans Memorial Highway.
Families are welcome to get a food package that includes local produce that is purchased from Kauai farmers, assorted shelf-stable food, and more. During previous distributions, Moniz said the selection of foods is geared toward being able to feed families.
Families are encouraged to arrive early because service is on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
Moniz also said Kauai’s credit unions, including Gather Federal Credit Union, the Garden Island FCU, the Kauai FCU, the Teachers FCU, and McBryde FCU are currently hosting a food drive that started on Nov. 18 and will run until Nov. 27. Any of the credit unions’ members, or other people in the community wishing to contribute can drop by their closest branch to help feed the island’s hungry.
