Posted on: Friday, April 15, 2005
Food drive gets boost from creative generosity
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Generosity isn't the only quality that makes the Hawaii Foodbank a success when it comes to feeding Hawai'i's hungry.
WHERE TO DONATE • Sites open: Tomorrow, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Donations sites: Restaurant Row, Koko Marina Center, McCully Shopping Center, Pearl City Shopping Center, Town Center of Mililani, Wai'anae Mall, Wai'anae Store and Tamura Superette, Waiokeola Congregational Church in Kahala and Windward City Shopping Center. • Military donation sites (for food only): Barbers Point Commissary, Fort Shafter Commissary, Hickam Commissary, Building 1 at Marine Corps Base in Kane'ohe and the Navy Exchange. • Monetary donations: www.hawaiifoodbank.org. • Information: 836-3600. The food will go to feed 118,000 people in need in the state, 43,000 of whom are children, 17,000 of whom are elderly, and 9,000 of whom are homeless, according to Lori Kaya of the Foodbank.
Drop-off sites for cash and nonperishable food are located throughout the state.
The drive is serious business to fill a serious need, but that doesn't mean the philanthropists won't get to play a little with their canned food donations.
State employees who give at the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations get to help build the "Great Wall of Tuna" being constructed in the director's office.
As of yesterday, the department had collected nearly 800 cans, she said. They hope to collect 1,500 cans and completely seal off an open window that looks into director Bob Chock's office.
The Foodbank's goals this year are to collect 550,000 pounds of food and $425,000.
In addition to canned meats and tuna, the hungry are in special need of canned meals, such as spaghetti or corned beef hash; and other canned goods, including soups, vegetables, fruits and beans.
The Foodbank will have an easier time handling food donations this year after Kraft Foods helped out with $90,000 in donations, said Keith DeMello, a spokesman for Kraft.
Creativity also gives a boost to the Foodbank's annual drive, which culminates tomorrow in the Foodbank's 16th Annual Food Drive Day.
