Isle residents answer
pleas of food banks

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Hawaii residents have stepped up contributions to food banks, answering a plea to help restock shelves depleted since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mahalo -- and keep the Spam and rice coming, say officials at island food banks.

With thousands of workers laid off or on reduced hours because of the slump in tourism, the need to help feed Hawaii families will continue unabated, they say.

"We need about 100,000 pounds to fill the void" and restore the 30-day supply of food the bank likes to keep on hand, said Brett Schlemmer, director of operations for Hawaii Foodbank on Oahu.

Since the food banks sounded the alarm 12 days ago that their shelves were too close to bare for comfort, "around 12,000 pounds of product have been received," he said.

Donations include "the rice and quality nutrition that we really have been challenged with: canned meats, Spams and tunas."

Many donations have been made at car dealerships on each major island, which are offering donation bins through the end of November, said Schlemmer. Tesoro has drop-off bins for food donations at all its gas stations on Oahu and the neighbor islands.

More than a third of recent donations were dropped off by individuals at the food bank's warehouse, Schlemmer said. Some people are donating in unconventional ways.

"We've had people call and say, 'We went and purchased a whole bunch of rice, and we can't fit it in the car,'" Schlemmer said. So food bank workers drove over and picked up 25 20-pound bags of rice waiting at a Hawaii Kai supermarket.

Hawaii Foodbank is buying 10,000 pounds of ground beef at a discounted price from Kalama Meats and freezing it for gradual distribution.

Directors at Maui and Big Island food banks agreed response has been great but that the need will remain.

Kauai Foodbank's executive director, Judy Lenthall, said her organization has not seen a marked increase in contributions yet. She is hopeful that an emergency holiday food drive Nov. 6 to Dec. 15 -- with drop-off bins at all Kauai fire stations -- will make a difference.

Lenthall emphasized the need for "good and healthy foods."

"Our shelves were the barest I've seen them in two years," said Maui Foodbank's chief executive officer, Debbie Johnson. "The good news is, people are beginning to respond, dropping off donations of food and money."

A woman told Johnson she read about the need for food, came in to see for herself and wrote a check for $5,000 on the spot, Johnson said.

Some organizations that distribute food to the needy have called, worried that the call for food means there is none available, Johnson said.

"We have food," Johnson told them. "Our goal is to make sure we always have enough for you -- that's why we are doing this (food drive)."

How to donate

Donating to Hawaii's food banks will be easy during the rest of October and November as most new car dealerships and all Tesoro stations have collection bins for nonperishable foods. A balanced variety of canned, dried and staple foods is needed. Monetary donations and donations of produce or perishable items can be arranged with food bank staff.

These are Hawaii's food banks:

>> Hawaii Foodbank Inc. (on Oahu), 2611 Kilihau St., 836-3600; 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and 7-11 a.m. Saturdays.

>> Kauai Food Bank, 3285 Waapa Rd., Lihue, 246-3809; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.

>> Hawaii Island Food Bank, Hilo, 140B Holomua St., 935-3050; 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays; Kona, between mile posts 114 and 115 on Highway 11, 322-1418; 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays.

>> Maui Food Bank, 330 Hoohana St. (Bay 17), 877-3194; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.