Iglesia Ni Cristo celebrates Aid to Humanity Day

KALAHEO — Saturday was Halloween, but the Iglesia Ni Cristo church celebrated the birthday of its Executive Minister Brother Eduardo Manalo, and Aid to Humanity Day at its Kalaheo site.

“We have 150 packages of food and some religious material that was provided by our brethren,” said INC Ministerial Worker Ramzy Salvador, who is responsible for both the Kalaheo and Lihu‘e sites. “We’re distributing food to the first 150 people who drive through as part of Aid to Humanity Day for the Kaua‘i island.”

The group was joined by Miss Kaua‘i Filipina Tiffany Sagucio, who was escorted to the event by Kaua‘i County Council candidate Dr. Addison Bulosan to help with the distribution.

Sagucio is no stranger to food distributions, having being involved with several Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i Branch efforts, including the most recent Kokua No Ka ‘Ohana event Thursday at St. Raphael Church in Koloa.

Sagucio is currently at home in Koloa, doing her University of Hawai‘i at Manoa student work through distance learning because UH is closed to a lot of the in-person learning programs due to the pandemic.

“We did do a food distribution earlier in the year,” Salvador said. “That was in March before the novel coronavirus hit. That was a partnership with Kelvin Moniz and the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank. This food drive is only from our brethren.”

Iglesia Ni Cristo, translated to Church of Christ, celebrated its centennial after being registered with the Philippine government on July 27, 1914, by Felix Manalo.

The church is in more than 150 countries and territories around the globe.

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