LIHU‘E — Gov. David Ige on Thursday signed a fifth emergency proclamation extending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program emergency allotment benefits, a program backed by federal COVID funding, through Jan. 16, 2023, the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency reported.
“Food insecurity is just one of the lingering effects of the pandemic, and SNAP benefits provide Hawai‘i families with nutritious food,” said Ige in a news release. “This emergency proclamation ensures food security through the holidays. I urge families in need to sign up for SNAP so they can receive this federal assistance.”
On Thursday, the Kaua‘i Community Alliance and County Housing Agency launched a two-day Kaua‘i Housing Connect program in observance of the week of Nov. 12 to 20 being National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
The Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i provided food packages for distribution to clients of Kaua‘i Housing Connect, but were unable to physically participate because the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i team was occupied partnering with the Westside Christian Center, Assembly of God, and St. Raphael Church for distributing food in Kekaha and on the Southside. The Holy Cross Church that draws food from the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i hosted a drive-thru distribution on Friday afternoon.
“We just got the schedule for Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i food distributions, and there will be a lot more before the end of the year,” said Patrick Ono, a Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i board member and district manager for Matson Navigation.
The Matson family at Nawiliwili Harbor Port was busy on Thursday, distributing the results of its employee food drive to benefit the Child &Family Service’s Nana’s House in Waimea and Hale Ho‘omalu in Kapa‘a family centers.
“Our employees were driven to reestablish our food drive for Child &Family Service,” Ono said. “One of Matson’s corporate cultures has been to improve the quality of life in the communities where our employees live and work, and Child &Family Service Nana’s House has been one of the organizations that our employees have been personally supportive of here on Kaua‘i. In addition to the food collected by our employees, the Matson Giving program is also contributing $1,000.”
On Nov. 12, the Hawai‘i Lodging &Tourism Association, in partnership with the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and several other community agencies, hosted a drive-thru food distribution at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e for approximately 300 families on a first-come-first-serve-basis.
According to information from Feeding America, there are 136,190 people, including 50,180 children in Hawai‘i facing hunger or food insecurity. The study further breaks down to report that 1 in 6 children face hunger. Feeding America has programs affiliated with the Hawai‘i Foodbank that has branch operations on the neighbor islands, including the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i in Puhi.
The study also revealed that people facing hunger in Hawai‘i are in need of an estimated $83,117,00 to meet their food needs based on the average cost of a meal in Hawai‘i being $3.79.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
