State and Maui County Officials Make Effort to Feed Hungry

Courtesy photo.

The Hawai’i Foodbank will provide 379,503 meals as a result of this yearʻs State Employeeʻs Annual Food Drive.

State employees have been collecting donations since the drive kickoff in February. Since then, they brought in 57,225 pounds of food and $134,619, totaling to 379,503 meals.

Lieutenant Governor Doug Chin presented a check that will provide these meals to the Hawai’i Foodbank today.

According to Lt. Governor Chin, the State of Hawai’i is the largest donor for the Hawai’i Foodbank. “The people of Hawai’i are one ‘ohana and the many state employees, who participated in this year’s food drive, have shown the power of aloha,” Chin said.

The Hawai‘i Foodbank serves 287,000 people every year. “The Hawai’i Foodbank knows every bit helps,” said Hawai’i Foodbank President and CEO Ron Mizutani.  “The generosity of state employees will go far and help feed the most-needy including working families.”

Last year, the Hawai’i Foodbank contributed 95,034 pounds of food to the 2.5 million pounds that the Maui Foodbank distributes annually. The Maui Foodbank serves 10,000 people a month. According to their website, portions of food from the Maui Foodbank are also shipped to Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.

Maui County Officials are making their own efforts to feed the hungry as well.

The Maui County Police and Firefighters are holding a “Battle of the Badges” to see which department can raise the most food and monetary donations. The competition will continue until the end of this month. All of the proceeds raised from the competition will go towards feeding the hungry keiki throughout Maui County.

Donations on behalf of either the Police or the Fire Department can be made online.

More information on how to help feed Hawai‘i’s hungry can be found online