Cars waiting for free food packages from the Kauai Independent Food Bank overflowed the Kauai Veterans Center parking lot and spilled onto the shoulder of the Veterans Memorial Highway on Wednesday.
Randal Valenciano, retired judge and volunteer from the Kauai Football Officials organization, concerned himself with clearing the highway logjam while other volunteers were busy loading vehicles during the drive-through food distribution.
“The phones were busy,” said Kelvin Moniz, the KIFB executive director. “There were a lot of people, including the County of Kauai administration, that wanted to volunteer. I simply told them to come down and we’ll find something for them to do.”
Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami was in and out of the passing rain showers installing holiday lights on trees in the historic County Building lawn with teams from the county’s Parks and Recreation Department Public Works and volunteers from the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
When Kawakami showed up at the Kauai Veterans Center, the distribution was well under way, and Kawakami stepped right in to help, grabbing hams and greeting each car he assisted.
Joining the KIFB staff and board members, and county workers, other volunteer groups included the Hope Collective Church, the Zonta Club of Kauai, HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union, the East Kauai Lions Club and the Department of Health.
“We’re going through taking care of about 500 families,” Moniz said. “We’ll pass out enough for more than 300 families, and there is a group that needs about 200 packages. We’re lucky this is just once a year.”
Each food package was valued at $100 or more. Each package included a turkey, ham, locally grown ground beef, celery, stuffing, 5 pounds of potatoes, and 15 pounds of rice.
KIFB Board member Lloyd Kajikawa was impressed with the movement of food, and the number of cars coming through looking for help.
“Didn’t we have a big distribution on Saturday with about 500 packages, including turkeys being distributed?” Kajikawa said. “To see this many people coming through even with the Saturday distribution is what worries me. Do we have that many people that need food help?”
Source: The Garden Island