Chip Bahouth, manager of the Sheraton Kauai Resort, was surprised that the Kauai Independent Food Bank was past Thanksgiving and into readying for Christmas.
“We’re doing the holiday boxes for families who need help. We use funds from contributors to pick up the late specials that go into the holiday boxes,” said Kelvin Moniz, executive director for the Kauai Independent Food Bank
Bahouth was among the representatives of the Kauai Marriott properties who gathered at the food bank’s loading area to contribute the results of their food drive, Tuesday.
The Kauai Marriott group was just one of several who arrived at the food bank to contribute to the KIFB Holiday Healthy Food and Fund drive, the other main group being representatives of Kauai’s credit unions who brought over results of their Eighth Annual Kauai’s Credit Union food drive that took place in time for the holiday season.
Hosted by the Gather Federal Credit Union, the Kauai Government Employees Federal Credit Union, the Garden Island Federal Credit Union, the Teachers Federal Credit Union, and McBryde Federal Credit Union, the amount presented to Kauai Independent Food Bank
totaled $33,350, a total that exceeded the group’s $25,000 goal.
“Money is used to buy food,” Moniz told Bahouth. “We were in a retail store where the price of turkeys reached a low before Thanksgiving. My wife and I bought cases of turkey and brought them down to the freezer, that night. These will be used in the holiday boxes that go out.”
Following the credit union presentation, the Kauai Marriott representative properties’ presentation was interrupted by a normal delivery of a cooler filled with pies from The Right Slice that was quickly dispatched by the food bank staff.
“We don’t want people to go hungry,” Moniz said. “A lot of the contributions go into our regular programs like the after school healthy snacks, the Keiki Cafe, the Backpack Program, and our kupuna shopping program. We also have emergency food distribution once a week for people who are down on their luck and need some food to get by. There are a lot of people who are working hard, but despite their efforts, are still struggling. They are a paycheck away from being homeless.”
The Kauai Marriott representative properties’ contribution that included a month’s proceeds from the Table 53 program at the RumFire restaurant inside the Sheraton Kauai Resort, and other Kauai Marriott properties amounted to $3,688 in monetary contributions, and 8,668 pounds of food.
The Kauai Independent Food Bank’s Holiday Healthy Food and Fund drive continues through Dec. 31.
