LIHU‘E — An unexpected, $15,000 check from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, was recently delivered to the Kaua‘i Food Bank offices and warehouse in Nawiliwili, states a press release. Marty Kahn, president of the Jewish Community of Kaua‘i, and
LIHU‘E — An unexpected, $15,000 check from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, was recently delivered to the Kaua‘i Food Bank offices and warehouse in Nawiliwili, states a press release.
Marty Kahn, president of the Jewish Community of Kaua‘i, and Dale Rosenfeld, vice president, made the delivery.
The funds are for food bank operational support and, specifically, food pick-ups, salvage and distribution.
Judy Lenthall, food bank executive director, and Kelvin Moniz, operations director, accepted the donation with smiles.
The money couldn’t come at a better time, as the food bank has been deluged with requests for food from a hungry island.
From 2008 to 2009, the food bank
experienced a 40-percent increase in demand for services. From January to May of this year, there has been another 30-percent increase in demand compared to the same period last year.
The month of December, 2009 set a 16-year high in demand for service.
Although the Kaua‘i Food Bank is the smallest food bank in the state, it continues to serve the largest percentage of the total population of any island.
According to the Hunger Study, 2010, the KFB fed about 17 percent of the total population of Kaua‘i — over 11,000 different people served in 2009.
The KFB is the only food bank in Hawai‘i accredited by the Better Business Bureau, meeting all 22 of their Standards for Charitable Accountability in governance, transparency, effectiveness and performance.
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit organization that allocates donations from the Jewish community to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds.
MAZON (“food” in Hebrew), founded in 1985, believes its dual purpose is to provide for those who are hungry today, and to address the systemic causes of hunger and poverty, both domestically and globally.
MAZON is supported by over 100,000 donors who incorporate social justice and hunger relief as crucial components of their everyday lives.
Each year MAZON grants over $4 million to more than 300 carefully screened hunger-relief agencies, multi-service organizations and advocacy groups that seek long-term solutions to the hunger problem. Their mission is:
• To educate and raise the consciousness of the Jewish community regarding its obligation to alleviate hunger and its causes;
• To make donating a portion of the cost of life cycle events (historically at least 3 percent) to MAZON a permanent tradition in Jewish life;
• To provide for people who are hungry while at the same time advocating for other ways to end hunger and its causes.
Visit www.jewishcommunityofkauai.org for information on activities, dates, and times of the Jewish Community of Kaua‘i.
See www.kauaifoodbank.org for more information on the Kaua‘i Food Bank.
