When the floods of 2006 destroyed farm land Kaua‘i Food Bank counted on for their “senior produce program,” Kaua‘i Food Bank director Judy Lenthall wasn’t going to allow the island’s kupuna to go hungry. “We had 1,300 low-income seniors we
When the floods of 2006 destroyed farm land Kaua‘i Food Bank counted on for their “senior produce program,” Kaua‘i Food Bank director Judy Lenthall wasn’t going to allow the island’s kupuna to go hungry.
“We had 1,300 low-income seniors we were feeding with that program,” she said.
Lenthall applied for a grant for food stamp outreach the following year. As she put it, food stamps “are food dollars just being left on the table in Washington.”
In January 2007 the food bank was funded by a private foundation to create the Akamai Kupuna Club — a group of eight volunteers bent solely on reaching senior citizens in need of assistance.
The first step in the process meant finding out who in the senior produce program was eligible. Since the program was income-based most of them qualified. Volunteers screened nearly 100 kupuna — of that number, 71 were able to apply. Volunteers met with senior citizens on the Westside, South Shore and Eastside to help them fill out the 22-page application.
According to the 2007 Food Research and Action Center report, food stamp participation in Hawai‘i has dropped 18 percent in the past five years. Lenthall suspects this is because of the complicated process required for employed users of the program.
“For what you have to go through for what you get, they think it’s not worth it,” she said.
Even eligible kupuna were reluctant to participate in the food stamp program.
“There’s a shame factor,” she said.
Many of them felt that food stamps were for people who were really in need. Lenthall had to point out to them that they had indeed earned this right.
“To get through that we told them this is earned just like social security — they worked all their life for it,” she said.
Then she did the math for them — food stamps are worth an average of $133 a month, which would save the household $1,600 a year. She also pointed out how many of them have grandchildren under their roofs and that they could fill their cupboards for the keiki.
“Kupuna won’t do it for themselves,” she said. “But they will do it for the kids.”
An added benefit of providing food stamps to seniors, Lenthall said, is they have more disposable income to spend in the community.
According to Lenthall, national studies show that every $5 in new food stamp benefits generates $9.20 in community spending. Ultimately, that means a total of $207,000 in new community spending for Kaua‘i.
In less than a year, the Kaua‘i Food Bank turned their grant for $36,000 into $114,000 food dollars.
“I just wanted to make more than the grant,” Lenthall said. “But when it came in at $114,000 at the end of the year, that blew me away.”
That money is not actual cash for the food bank, of course — it translates as food dollars for senior citizens. Staples that might have come from the cupboards in the food bank instead are being redeemed as part of a national food stamp program.
Presently, Kaua‘i Food Bank is the only food bank in the state doing food stamp outreach.
“This is a gift that keeps on giving,” Lenthall said. Since senior citizens are on a fixed income, updates on an application are easy compared to employed recipients who must recalculate their income annually.
Kaua‘i Food Bank hasn’t been without its challenges. Lenthall’s most recent grant application from a different source was recently denied.
“They said food stamps were outside the scope of a food bank,” she said.
Lenthall is not sure if the program will be able to continue without funding.
“Every food bank in the state of Hawai‘i receives county funds except Kaua‘i,” she said. “I can’t do this alone.”
For more information about the Kaua‘i Food Bank call 246-3809 or e-mail food@hawaiilink.net
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com
