‘United in one spirit’

KAPAA — Corina Aidikoff had no idea what the St. Catherine Food Pantry program was about when she first walked through the church doors.

“I became houseless,” she said. “I came in to pray and through prayers, I got help from the Catholic Charities and the St. Catherine’s church.”

So did many others.

Over a period of four years, the St. Catherine Food Pantry has expanded to distribute food, clothing and hygiene supplies to more than 400 people each week.

This does not include 40 to 90 people on the beaches the pantry reaches when Mark Whitson visits with his car laden with food, clothing and other supplies.

“We’ve always had an emergency food program through the efforts of Yvonne Pascua,” Whitson said. “In February 2009, we decided we would expand on the program.”

Whitson and representatives of community agencies recently praised the efforts of more than 40 volunteers for the success of the program, which grew in importance as the economy stalled.

Aidikoff is today one of those volunteers.

“We serve without judgement,” said Deacon Manny Pascua. “We serve honestly with love and aloha with the help of the volunteers. We are united in one spirit — to feed the people who are hungry.”

Food and materials for the weekly distributions come from the community including the Hawaii Foodbank, Kauai Branch, the Kauai Humane Society, and Cost U Less in Kapaa.

“We’re just the warehouse,” said Wes Perreira of the Hawaii Foodbank, Kauai. “You folks do all the work. The St. Catherine Food Pantry is the largest on this island in one of the most populated segment of the island. You fill a gap which was missing for a long time.”

Whitson said 90 percent of the food distributed comes from the Hawaii Foodbank, Kauai. Each week, the St. Catherine Food Pantry picks up between 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of food. It is brought back to the Kapaa church where it is set up and distributed each week.

“Based on figures at the end of January, we have had more than 400 people in the last two weeks of the month,” Whitson said. “A year ago, we served more than 500 people a week. We are blessed because of our volunteers who enable us to do what we do.”

Another source is the Kauai Humane Society, which provides between 15 to 20 bags of clothes each week.

“Jackets and towels are like gold for people living on the beach,” Whitson said. “We have volunteers who segregate and sort the items, setting aside the jackets and towels for the beach. We also have stuffed animals for the children.”

Cost U Less in downtown Kapaa is yet another source of food and materials for the St. Catherine’s Food Pantry.

“Mahalo to Sheri and Holly of Cost U Less,” Whitson said. “You did cost us less and gave us great bargains. Holly has us on speed dial, and this week we got 130 dozen eggs and more than 50 bags of cereal.”

Whitson said in addition to the foodstuff, June Munoz of Hoola Lahui has accompanied the volunteers to the beach as well as visited the pantry, helping people with medical, dental, or financial assistance.

Behind the huge volunteer effort, Whitson said, are the donors who make everything work.

The St. Catherine Food Pantry program was fortunate to receive grants from the Friends of Hawaii, the United Way, and even through the Hawaii Foodbank, Kauai with awards from the Wilcox Trust and Tenny Castle, Whitson said.

“It is amazing that this past year, we raised more than $15,000 in grants and awards,” Whitson said. “We also had more than 15,000 people signed in for assistance. How much did we spend on the average person? Less than a dollar.”

Whitson said the average family has 3.5 people and the St. Catherine Food Pantry provided more than $40 worth of groceries and hygiene items to them each week.

“We could not have done this without the help of the volunteers and the community,” he said.

• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.