LIHU‘E — The meal packets started going out with the Salvation Army Kokua Kitchen Tuesday night, said Envoy Larry Groenleer of the Salvation Army, Lihu‘e Corps. Unlike the Meals Ready to Eat from the post-Hurricane Iniki days, the new humanitarian
LIHU‘E — The meal packets started going out with the Salvation Army Kokua Kitchen Tuesday night, said Envoy Larry Groenleer of the Salvation Army, Lihu‘e Corps.
Unlike the Meals Ready to Eat from the post-Hurricane Iniki days, the new humanitarian daily rations include sufficient nutrition to satisfy a person’s daily requirement, said Kelvin Moniz, operations director for the Kaua‘i Food Bank.
Moniz said the Hawai‘i Food Bank received a shipment of 100 pallets of the conveniently packaged food. Of that amount, Kaua‘i Food Bank received 20 pallets.
“They’ve been really well received,” Moniz said. “Since we got the shipment, St. Raphael’s food pantry program headed by Tina Brun has already taken two pallets for distribution to its clients.”
Groenleer said the donation is welcome right now because of the heavy demand for food and the scarcity of food supplies.
That scarcity set the Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i into motion Saturday when volunteers organized an emergency food drive outside Ishihara Market and the Big Save store in Waimea to help bolster food supplies at the Hanapepe Corps.
“We’re going to start distributing them at the Kokua Kitchen,” Groenleer said. “They should come in handy for people to take with them to help carry them over until the next Kokua Kitchen.”
The meal packet distribution is coordinated with the Kaua‘i Chapter of the American Red Cross. That distribution comes as a supplement to the Salvation Army’s planned turkey and holiday food distribution that starts Thursday and the annual community luncheon, Nov. 25, at the War Memorial Convention Hall and the Salvation Army, Hanapepe Corps. Both luncheons start at 10 a.m.
The packets may be available for those who need it, but will not be a substitute for the traditional Thanksgiving lunch including turkey, stuffing, gravy and all the fixings.
Groenleer said the tight economic situation Hawai‘i is experiencing is still about six months behind the Mainland, where the news reports are indicating a turnaround in employment figures.
