NAWILIWILI — Kelvin Moniz of the Kaua‘i Food Bank had a smile you rarely see. He chuckled in the spirit of the season as he greeted representatives of both the Window Trends and the Kaua‘i 4H Livestock Club, Tuesday afternoon.
NAWILIWILI — Kelvin Moniz of the Kaua‘i Food Bank had a smile you rarely see.
He chuckled in the spirit of the season as he greeted representatives of both the Window Trends and the Kaua‘i 4H Livestock Club, Tuesday afternoon.
The groups represented final-minute efforts in the Kaua‘i Food Bank’s annual Holiday Food and Fund Drive which was supposed to end Saturday. The drive was extended to today.
“The reason is because a lot of the organizations have ongoing food drives that will end (today),” Moniz said.
Among earlier donors to the food bank were several of Kaua‘i’s judges, who made a generous gesture when food bank coordinator Michelle Panoke showed up at the department’s annual holiday luncheon.
Charlene Adric, one of the court bailiffs, said that in lieu of grab bags and gifts, the department agreed to contribute food for the Kaua‘i Food Bank.
That resulted in a table overflowing with bags of rice and cases of saimin which Panoke accepted from judges Randal Valenciano, Trudy Senda, Kathleen Watanabe and Calvin Murashige on behalf of all the members of the judiciary department.
Panoke said that contribution totalled more than 340 pounds.
Moniz also accepted a check for $1,500 from Window Trends owner Bruce Grantham.
“This was a business program, but it does count toward the Holiday Food and Fund Drive,” Moniz said.
For every $250 sale processed by Window Trends, $25 was designated for the Kaua‘i Food Bank during the months of October, November and December, according to a prepared statement from the company.
“It was a tremendous success,” Grantham said. “People responded to our ads and through word-of-mouth. We even had people coming in and wanting to know where to donate food.”
Grantham said his staff sent people from the the latter of those two categories to the fire station next door. He also said his staff was so impressed with the customer response, they said they want to do it again next year, and start even earlier.
“This was such a great way to give back to the community,” Grantham said.
Joining the owner of Window Trends, members of the Kaua‘i 4H Livestock Club showed up with bags of rice and bags overflowing with canned goods and other foodstuffs.
A release from the 4H Club states that its members wanted to show appreciation for all the support it received from the community at its livestock shows throughout the year.
In a club agreement, the members opted to hold a food drive to benefit the Kaua‘i Food Bank in lieu of its Christmas party.
The 19 club members raised more than 278 pounds of food through its efforts, said Panoke who totalled the collection of food brought in by the young livestock handlers.
Moniz said with the final-minute surge in activity, the food bank’s total of 40,000 pounds of food is at about 65 percent of its goal.
“Wilcox Hospital, who has always been a strong contributor, will finish its food drive (today),” Moniz said. “All told, this drive is going well. We might just make it, this time.”
The Kaua‘i Food Bank’s goals for its Holiday Food and Fund Drive was to raise $40,000 and 40,000 pounds of food.
