Aid may flow to food bank from Maui Spam 'volcano'

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

KAHULUI, Maui — There's something about Spam that brings people together.

Organizers hope to create a "Spamtacular Volcano" in a community effort to benefit the Maui Food Bank. Advertiser library photo • June 26, 1998

Wailuku attorney William Kinaka got the idea after hearing about the Hawai'i Foodbank's 3,909-can Spam wall in May.

Kinaka, who is board president of the Maui Adult Day Care Centers and president of 'Iao Intermediate School's Renaissance Education Foundation, got together with a couple of other nonprofit leaders to hatch the idea of stacking 5,000 cans of Spam in the shape of a volcano.

Kinaka said word of the event is spreading through government and business offices, and he expects well over 5,000 cans to be delivered to the Ka'ahumanu Center on Dec. 5, when the volcano will be erected between noon and 4 p.m. If that's the case, he said he'll use the extras to create "a sea of Spam" around the mound.

Architect Gerald Hiyakumoto designed the layout of the volcano, which will be about 8 feet across and a little more than 5 feet tall. A fan will blow red and yellow streamers up from the center of the stacked cans, simulating an eruption.

Although the Maui Food Bank prefers donations of more nutritious items such as canned tuna and chicken and peanut butter, Debra Johnson, the food bank's president and CEO, said the agency isn't about to turn down a Spam windfall.

Kinaka said the food drive wouldn't be generating as much enthusiasm if it featured Jif or Chicken of the Sea.

"Spam is the only food that unites all of the ethnic groups in Hawai'i," he said.

Johnson said the event is coming at a good time, because the demand for food increases during the holidays, particularly when children are on vacation and can't get free breakfast or lunch at school.

The food bank has been serving an average of 6,000 people a month, half of them children. During the holidays, the number increases to 7,000 to 8,000 a month.

"The numbers are not significantly down since Sept. 11, 2001. We're still serving record numbers of people. The lower one-third just can't get to the next level," Johnson said.

To make matters worse, four or five food pantries operated by churches and other groups have closed, and new policies among retailers have curbed food contributions.

Johnson said the Maui Food Bank has been forced to solicit cash donations to buy food, instead of focusing on working with hotels, restaurants and markets to contribute surplus items.

Sponsors for the Dec. 5 Spam event include the Maui Adult Day Care Centers, the 'Iao program and Hale Mahaolu, which provides housing for seniors and the disabled.

Cash donations to the Maui Food Bank can be mailed to 320 Ho'ohana St., Bay 17, Kahului, HI 96732; nonperishable foods can be dropped at the same address.

For more information on the "Spamtacular Volcano," call (808) 871-5804.

Contact Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.