NAWILIWILI — The Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank food package backpacks are going out thanks to the unannounced arrival of about two dozen Alaska Airlines employees on Monday.
“This is Alaska Airlines Volunteer Week,” said Jacob Aki of Alaska Airlines. “We have more than 20 Alaska Airlines employees coming to the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank to help with whatever they need done.”
One of the main tasks facing the volunteers was packing the food packages for recipients of the Backpack Program. The food packages go to many beneficiaries of the free and reduced lunch programs at schools around the island.
“This program is 17 years old,” said KIFB Executive Director Kelvin Moniz. “We started it following the discovery that there are children and youth who don’t have any food during the weekends. They get their meals at school. What happens to these keiki when there is no food.”
The Backpack Program provides food for keiki and their families to live on during the times there are no school, primarily during the weekends, and family budgets are stretched beyond getting food.
Recently, KIFB received a grant from the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a, which will ensure the Boys &Girls Club, primarily the Kapa‘a Clubhouse, will have backpacks delivered for the remainder of the school year.
Moniz said this was truly a blessing because the first backpacks went to Boys &Girls Clubs on Kaua‘i, and the Rotary donation ensures that keiki don’t go hungry.
In addition to packing backpacks of food, the Alaska Airlines employees also scoured the KIFB supply shelves to clear any expired or out-of-date supplies, ensuring that foodbank clients receive safe and nutritious food.
These tasks are shared by other volunteer groups, primarily those from schools, that come to volunteer at the KIFB facility in Nawiliwili.
The backpack program is just one of several programs KIFB does to ensure that keiki and kupuna do not go hungry. That includes emergency food where the KIFB staff will find food for those who come outside of the twice-monthly emergency food distributions.
For information, visit the KIFB website at www.kauaifoodbank.org.
