NAWILIWILI — The Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank (KIFB), which only recently launched its annual Spring Food and Fund Drive, welcomed the help of a group of people from Tennessee on Wednesday at its Nawiliwili facility.
“This is good,” said KIFB Executive Director Kelvin Moniz. “We’re in our spring food drive and there is a lot of work to check the incoming food contributions and stuff envelopes.”
Under the direction and supervision of Lydia Stokes and Dawn Hoesel, the group of eight people from the Franklin Christian Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, returned on Wednesday with not only sleeves rolled up, but with an offering of food they picked up overnight.
“We’re here to volunteer, learn more about Hawaiian history and culture, and just have fun like hiking and going to the beach. We spent four days on O‘ahu where we got to see places like Pearl Harbor, the Queen’s Summer Palace, and even had a lu‘au,” Stoke said.
”We’ve got three days on Kaua‘i, and are doing volunteer work with the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank for two days. Tomorrow, we spend the day at the Lydgate chocolate farm helping harvest cacao beans. Everyone is just having fun.”
To date, the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank has distributed more than 104,000 pounds of food and other essential items, including 894 pounds to homebound kupuna and kupuna meal kits, and 11,194 snacks distributed for the Keiki Cafe program.
Community collections have totaled 89,290 pounds of food, or a difference of more food going out than coming in.
A news report by Hawai‘i News Now in late December indicates the number of Hawai‘i residents experiencing food insecurity rose by 40 percent from 2021 to the end of 2023 based on a report from the Census Bureau. This amounts to roughly one in 10 residents who don’t always have adequate access to food.
To help like the visiting people from Tennessee, individuals can donate by visiting the websites of either the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank at www.kauaifoodbank.org or the Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i at www.hawaiifoodbank.org/kauai/.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
