Literally tons of food comes daily through the back door of the Kaua’i Food Bank warehouse in Nawiliwili, mostly from the island’s major source of donated food: Local grocery stores. The retailers get tax breaks for donating slightly damaged goods
Literally tons of food comes daily through the back door of the Kaua’i Food Bank warehouse in Nawiliwili, mostly from the island’s major source of donated food: Local grocery stores.
The retailers get tax breaks for donating slightly damaged goods or food nearing expiration dates to the non-profit food bank, and the food bank gets more food to feed the island’s hungry.
The environment benefits, as well, because without the food bank to accept the damaged food products, they would take a one-way ride to the Kekaha landfill, said Judy Lenthall, the food bank’s executive director.
The second-largest source of food is America’s Second Harvest and through the Hawai’i Food Bank. Next are contributions made during food drives, followed by donations and purchases from local farmers.
The food bank warehouse on Monday afternoon was packed to the rafters with donated and purchased food, and a new walk-in refrigeration unit hardly had room to accommodate additional perishables.
But don’t let the bountiful appearance fool you. Food bank officials say that, with 5,000 people on Kaua’i each month getting food through the food bank’s islandwide volunteer distribution system, the food flows out of the facility almost as fast as it can be stored.
As if feeding nearly 10 percent of the island on a regular basis weren’t enough, the food bank wants to do more – and could do more, if it had a kitchen where it could prepare the donated food to give it longer life, said John Sydney Yamane, president of the food bank’s board of directors.
The food bank also wants salad bars at each of the island’s school cafeterias and to be able to provide fresh produce for them, Lenthall said.
A dollar donated to the food bank (which this week kicked off its annual spring food drive) can be stretched to purchase $16 worth of groceries because the food bank purchases food from America’s Second Harvest (a national food bank) for seven cents a pound, plus freight charges.
Food bank officials said the cost of warehousing, processing, hauling and refrigerating food on Kaua’i is about 50 cents per pound. Agencies that distribute the food pay about 14 cents a pound for it in a shared-maintenance contribution.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
