Kahului charity shutting down
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
KAHULUI, Maui — The last Hawai'i chapter of Operation Blessing is closing after 24 years of providing food, clothing, emergency cash and a friendly face to needy families in Maui County.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
The charity, established by tireless volunteer Betty Jean Labrenz, has experienced dwindling financial support and will shutter its Kahului warehouse tomorrow.
Betty Jean Labrenz, left, of Operation Blessing accepts a donation from Nancy Klaschka of Sturdevant Air Conditioning, whose employees have been supporting the Kahului charity for years.
"This has been my Kleenex week," said Labrenz, 77, as supporters and those who have come to the agency for help over the years stopped by Friday to say aloha.
Operation Blessing is a ministry of televangelist Pat Robertson's 700 Club.
The national organization provided the Maui chapter, known as Pa'ahana Me Iesu (Work with Jesus), with monthly support earmarked for direct aid to the needy.
That left Labrenz, known as "Grandma" to those she has helped, to rely on donations from churches and individuals to pay for rent, utilities and other costs.
Last Christmas, instead of the usual $15,000 in donations, Operation Blessing collected only $6,000, Labrenz said.
"At Christmastime we could see the handwriting on the wall," she said. "The churches were hurting, and the money just wasn't there."
At the same time, the volunteer staff dropped from about 16 to only eight.
The national organization agreed it was time to close, Labrenz said.
Aside from operating a food pantry and offering free clothing and bedding on a walk-in basis, Operation Blessing distributed Thanksgiving and Christmas food packages and toys to hundreds of families on Maui, Lana'i and Moloka'i. But Labrenz said the organization's most significant form of assistance was providing new school supplies.
"It gave the children self-esteem and made them feel important," she said.
She worries about who will take care of all the folks Operation Blessing has helped, some of whom she's known for more than 20 years.
The agency was assisting 60 to 70 families at any given time,
and an average of 30 people would drop by daily seeking clothing and blankets, or a little extra food or cash to get through the month. On a single day earlier this month Labrenz received 17 calls for rent assistance, and on Friday three people called seeking help in paying their electric bills.
"People are just so desperate for finances. We just don't have it anymore," Labrenz said.
She is directing those who call to seek aid from their churches and other groups that run food pantries.
Ernie and Yvonne Nearman of Freedom Life Church were picking up food from Operation Blessing on Friday for the families they help through their church. Although they were sad to see the agency close, they were happy that Labrenz will finally get some rest from the constant stress of managing the charity on a shoestring.
"She's a faithful servant of the Lord, a woman of integrity," Yvonne Nearman said. "The Lord says, when one door closes, another one opens. Many other doors were opened from what she has done."
Labrenz, who recently recovered from a serious illness and lost her husband of 55 years last year, said she's still deciding where she'll volunteer next.
"I'm not a stay-at-home person. I'm going to volunteer somewhere," she said.
