NAWILIWILI — Judy Lenthall had on a black vest for the occasion yesterday afternoon. Charlie King, the chair of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation Kaua‘i Leadership Council, joined Darcie Yukimura and Uri Pasaoa in presenting Lenthall, the executive director of the
NAWILIWILI — Judy Lenthall had on a black vest for the occasion yesterday afternoon.
Charlie King, the chair of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation Kaua‘i Leadership Council, joined Darcie Yukimura and Uri Pasaoa in presenting Lenthall, the executive director of the Kaua‘i Food Bank with a grant of $23,500.
“We wanted to do something meaningful to commemorate this year’s 20th anniversay of the HCF’s donor advised funds,” said Kelvin Taketa, president and chief executive officer of the HCF, in a press release. “At the same time, we recognized that the downturn in our local economy has placed tremendous pressure on a number of families in Hawai‘i. While many families are cutting costs where they can, even foregoing important needs like medical care, everyone needs to eat and that’s why we focused our effort on the food banks, especially during the holiday season when demand goes up even more.”
Across the state, the HCF presented charitable contributions totaling $162,360 to food banks and food pantries.
Linda Chu Takayama, board chair of the Hawai‘i Foodbank in Honolulu, accepted a check for $77,660 while on Maui. Kathleen Buenger of the HCF Maui office presented a check of $33,200 to Richard Yust, executive director of the Maui Food Bank. Additionally, a check of $28,000 will be delivered to the Food Basket of Hawai‘i later this week, the release states.
Taketa said 20 of the foundation’s funds were targeted for gifts, but instead, virtually every donor asked supported the effort, raising the total of $162,360 from 29 funds this week.
Julia Ing, whose husband Sheridan established the first donor advised fund at the HCF in 1988, also contributed to the gift food drive.
Over the past 20 years, the number of donor advised funds at the HCF has grown to 130.
The Robert Kama‘aina Fund, the Takenaka Kaua‘i Community Fund and anonymous donor advised funds of the HCF contributed to the Kaua‘i Food Bank, Taketa said.
“Beyond the generosity of the Foundation’s many funders, this also speaks to the impact a contribution has when resources are pooled,” Taketa said.
Lenthall said the ongoing holiday food and fund drive has enabled the Kaua‘i Food Bank to restock its shelves. But the worst is yet to come, she said.
“This grant is a blessing because the worst month for the Kaua‘i Food Bank is in January when people have spent for the holidays and need food,” she said.
Lenthall said the holiday food and fund drive ends at the end of the month, but people need to be aware that there will always be hungry people, and if they can, contributions are still welcomed.
Even while she spoke, two pickup trucks drove up with Kelvin Moniz, the development officer at the Kaua‘i Food Bank, helping its occupants unload contributions to the Nawiliwili food bank facility.
“This is emergency food,” Moniz said. “When people come in and just need food, this is what carries them until they can visit one of the agencies.”
Yukimura said she is hopeful the one-time grant to the Kaua‘i Food Bank will serve as an incentive to people to be aware of the constant need for food, especially in trying times.
“We hope that this grant will remind people during these holiday times that there are others who are not as fortunate and if possible, not forget that the food banks help serve those in need,” she said.
Lenthall said the best part of the presentation was that “it came out of the blue.”
