Officials with the North Shore Food Pantry, operated by those at Church of the Pacific in Princeville, were recently presented with a check for $1,025 by leaders of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay. Rotarians raised the money at their
Officials with the North Shore Food Pantry, operated by those at Church of the Pacific in Princeville, were recently presented with a check for $1,025 by leaders of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay.
Rotarians raised the money at their annual Thanksgiving lunch, where each member pays $25 for lunch, and they are served soup and bread only.
Some $15 of the lunch fee goes toward the donation. Rotarians pitched in an additional $500, and the entire amount was given to Pastor Glenn Frazier by George Corrigan of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay.
Those at the pantry distribute about 3,000 pounds of food monthly to over 300 hungry people.
Much of the food comes from the Kauai Food Bank.
Operators of the food pantry, which is open every Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., must pay a nominal amount for the food they receive from Kauai Food Bank officials, and they supplement their supplies with food purchased at retail from various stores around the island.
The pantry is staffed with volunteers, so there is no distribution cost.
According to Frazier, many of the needy are fully employed persons who are struggling to make ends meet. Other needy include retired, homeless or unemployed.
No one is turned away.
By shopping carefully, volunteers at the food pantry can feed a person for under $2 a week. Those North Shore Food Pantry operators receive donations from members of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay.
Judith “Judy” Lenthall, executive director of the Kauai Food Bank, had a few things to say about the Rotarians (she is a member of the Kauai Rotary Club), and about all those on Kaua‘i who continue giving to causes.
“I think the people of Kaua‘i are the most amazingly generous people in the world. Our local spirit of generosity and aloha is probably why the community can support the food bank, The Salvation Army bell-ringing, the Lokahi Project, and Toys For Tots, all worthy projects, and all of them happening at the same time,” Lenthall said.
“You know, the return you get from stuffing a food bank remittance envelope or filling a kettle is not always evident,” she added.
“But Kaua‘i people have the incredible ability to give generously to the needy, almost like they have the eyes to see the beauty of someone’s cupped, receiving hands,” she added.
“I feel so humbled and blessed to be a part of this community, and am so very grateful to be a simple vehicle for the outpouring of their generosity,” Lenthall continued.
“I believe that to be without food in our community is a flat-out sin. But the angels of Kaua‘i seem to have worked overtime this year to make sure that we can all be pono in this time of holiday giving and goodwill,” she said.
“I pray that God will abundantly bless the people of Kaua‘i for their aloha, kokua, and amazing generosity to those in need right here on our island home.”
