Foodbank sounds alarm for donations

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hunger still gnaws at 118,000 Hawai'i residents every week despite community support that brought tens of thousands of dollars in donations when economic hard times hit the Islands after Sept. 11.

And even as the Hawai'i Foodbank kicked off its annual food drive yesterday with optimism and a light breakfast, its president worried that demand could soon outpace the nonprofit organization's ability to keep up.

Distribution was up 150,000 pounds in November and December as people who were laid off sought assistance.

"Right now, we're in good shape," said Dick Grimm, Hawai'i Foodbank president. "The dangerous part is if this continues, we may run out of money. That's why we are encouraging donations."

The organization distributes food statewide through a network of 245 agencies and food banks on the Neighbor Islands. Some have reported 30 percent to 1,000 percent increases in new clients, Grimm said.

Last fall, as the economic crisis grew, corporations donated checks as high as $30,000 and $40,000, and the state Legislature gave the food bank $1 million, Grimm said. But none of it guarantees an end to the problem.

"It's going to be up and down for some time," he said.

The challenge is felt more acutely on the front lines of the war on hunger.

Feeding the Hungry, a Kalihi Valley organization with more than 100 new clients since the terrorist attacks, ran out of food yesterday for the second week in a row, said Cindy Bauer, one of its coordinators.

People begin arriving four hours before the 2 p.m. distribution, she said. The food, handed out in 25- to 50-pound boxes, was gone yesterday after only 40 minutes.