Need for emergency food has skyrocketed

NAWILIWILI — The Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank’s goal for the Holiday Food and Fund Drive is $40,000 and 40,000 pounds of food, KIFB Executive Director Judy Lenthall said Monday.

“If you have food, be thankful,” she said. “And if you can, share!”

The need for emergency food has skyrocketed since last year, but the goal has remained the same, Lenthall said.

That same goal was set for the Spring Food and Fund Drive, which raised $21,884 and forced the KIFB Board members to spearhead an emergency summer drive which helped by raising $8,984.

“I have never worked this hard for this long since Hurricane Iniki,” Lenthall said. “The difference is that after Iniki, there was money and there were volunteers. Right now, we have people who need food, but there is no money.”

According to figures ending in September, Lenthall said there has been 62,256 emergency requests for food this year.

This far exceeds the 47,890 requests for the same period in 2009 and 38,570 requests in 2008.

“So far, we had 8,219 emergency requests for September, and we’re still short a couple of reports,” Lenthall said, noting that previous monthly requests were around 5,000.

To launch the Holiday Food and Fund Drive, KIFB is hosting its Kickoff Fish Netting Day at locations island-wide Saturday.

“We can still use some volunteers to help man fishnets at some of the locations,” Lenthall said.

Residents and organizations can drop by the Ching Young Village in Hanalei, Safeway Stores, Walmart, Kukui Grove Center, Foodland stores in Waipouli and Princeville, the Big KMart store, the Big Save stores in Koloa and ‘Ele‘ele, and Ishihara Market in Waimea to make their contributions to help feed some of the hungry people on the island. Volunteers should be on hand between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. except at the Ching Young Village, Kukui Grove Center, and the Big KMart where stations will close at 3 p.m.

Lenthall said there are volunteers from the New Hope Church of Kapa‘a, the Kalaheo Missionary Church, the Aloha Church, St. Raphael’s Church, the Rotary Club of Kaua‘i, and students from the island’s high schools.

Other volunteer groups include the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, Boys & Girls Club of Hawai‘i, Waimea Clubhouse, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Church of the Pacific, St. Williams, Organization of Kalalau Karetakers, and the Kaua‘i High School Key Club and air riflery team.

Kelvin Moniz, KIFB operations manager, said there have been several candidates running for political office who offered to man fishnets while they are roadside campaigning.

Lenthall said contributions are “badly needed,” especially during this time of the year when the holidays approach.

She said KIFB estimates that food requests will top the 100,000 mark by year’s end.

She said to help meet the more than 8,000 food requests each month, KIFB is dipping into its reserves and buying food, “hand over fist.”

“We’re plowing through our reserves,” Lenthall said. “But how long can this last?”

She said there are indications the economic situation is beginning to turn — the housing and stock market is showing signs, the tourism numbers may be improving, but the unemployment numbers are still lagging, and food, the last indicator, is still high.

“The good times don’t last forever. The bad times don’t last forever,” Lenthall said. “But the need-for-food numbers are too high. As a community, we’re all in this together, and as a community, we can work together to help bring the numbers down.”

One of the bright spots is the new expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which opens some doors.

Since the effective date Oct. 1, activity has been steady and the elimination of the asset test in the eligibility requirements means more kupuna become eligible for SNAP.

Lenthall said this is good because there are many grandmas and grandpas who help care for keiki on Kaua‘i. Of the food requests being made, she said 35 percent are for kids.

Additionally, using figures derived from surveys conducted at food pantries around the island, Lenthall said more than 75 percent of the people getting food are not on the government food-stamp program.

The brown bags inserted in today’s edition of The Garden Island can be filled with food and deposited at any fire station on the island, the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana, and at the KIFB facility in Nawiliwili now through Dec. 15.

Suggestions on what to include are: brown, or hapa rice; tuna; pasta; Ensure/Pediasure; canned vegetables; canned fruits; peanut butter; and soups.

“We all could be doing a lot better, but we need food first,” Lenthall said. “Food is the basic building block on which everything else sits, and we need to share while we wait for the jobs to show up.”

Visit www.kauaifoodbank.org for more information.