LIHU‘E — Rob Silverman of Rob’s Good Times Grill may not have realized the impact of the restaurant and bar’s Rob’s Gives Back program.
Silverman, on Wednesday, presented the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i with a $2,500 award representing the November proceeds of the Rob’s Gives Back project.
“This is huge,” said Tisha Ruiz of the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i. “This pays for more than 5,300 meals.”
The Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i has been busy partnering with the Westside Christian Fellowship Assembly of God church in Kekaha for a final drive-thru food distribution in Kekaha, just two days before Christmas. The first-come, first-served distribution means food for families to have and enjoy during the festive time of the year.
Based on a “Hunger In America/Hawai‘i” report by Feeding America, there are 162,220 people in Hawai‘i, 54,700 being children, who face hunger. This figure when broken down means one in nine people face hunger, and one in five children are food insecure.
In November, Rob’s Gives Back presented Tricia Yamashita of Kaua‘i Hospice with the proceeds coming from the October program. The $2,500 presentation was welcomed by Kaua‘i Hospice whose signature fundraising events, the July 4 Concert in the Sky, and Trees of Hope, were shut down for two straight years by the arrival of the novel coronavirus and its variants in the state.
Thinking outside the box, the Kaua‘i Hospice is hosting its Lanterns of Love where plaques acquired by donations from loved ones are hung on illuminated paper lanterns that circle the Kaua‘i Hospice facility on Pahe‘e Street. As a cost-saving measure, the plaques are hand-created by Kaua‘i Hospice staff and enjoyed by the public.
Under terms of the Rob’s Gives Back project, patrons to Rob’s are the contributors to the program by purchasing and enjoying some of the specials in the bar, or on the restaurant menu. A portion of the specials purchase goes to the Rob’s Gives Back program.
With a few days remaining in December, the recipient of the December Rob’s Gives Back program is The Resilience Project by the Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance.
Tiana Pegeder, the events coordinator for Rob’s Good Times Grill, said the Gives Back program will continue “for as long as we are able to.”
