LIHU‘E — More than a hundred motorcycle enthusiasts capitalized on the clear, windy weather Sunday to help boost the coffers of the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i branch.
“Everyone is ready for this,” said John McFarland, one of the ride coordinators. “They’ve been cooped up for so long, they’re excited about riding again.”
McFarland and Russell Haluapo, not a stanger to organizing motorcycle rides benefiting charity, pulled the group together for a ride to the Westside with contributions of food and funds to help the Hawai‘i Foodbank.
“I know what it’s like,” said Angie Wells, one of the riders who dropped bills into the collection container. “I was hungry once. I’ve been there.”
Michelle Panoke represented the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i branch that received the collective amount of 313 pounds of food and $200 in cash generated by the motorcycle riders.
“This is something we really need right now,” Panoke said. “With all of the unemployment and people out of work, our demand for food has doubled, and sometimes tripled compared to the normal. A lot of the riders brought food earlier, but supplemented the giving with cash donations.”
“We can use either,” Panoke said. “We need the food, and with the cash — as Hawai‘i Foodbank President Ron Mizutani says, ‘you can give a can of Spam, but for the same amount in cash we are able to get two cans.’”
The Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i branch has a list of agencies and locations where emergency food can be picked up during the week on its website at hawaiifoodbank.org/Websites/foodbbank/images/Kauai_EmergencyFood Assistance_Handout_011119.pdf.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
