Honoka鈥榓 food program set to reach milestone
A beloved community meal program will celebrate its seveenth anniversary by serving its 100,000th meal on Friday, May 15.
Feeding Our Keiki and Kupuna — a program of the Honoka‘a Hongwanji Peace Committee — has prepared, plated and delivered nutritious meals and bags of groceries every Friday during the past seven years, culminating in 1 million pounds of groceries provided.
On a weekly basis, the program serves more than 500 meals and provides about 2 tons of groceries to more than 225 households through their drive-thru, delivery and walk-up options. The program provides special groceries for those without access to kitchens and delivers meals and groceries to kupuna and the homebound.
More than 50 dedicated volunteers, from teenagers to kupuna, each week ensure the success of the program. Long-time volunteers and island visitors alike make up the load-in, morning packing, kitchen prep, afternoon plating, distribution, delivery and clean up crews
“Each crew has fostered its own leadership,” Miles Okumura, chairman of the Honoka‘a Hongwanji Peace Committee, said in a press release. “Without our volunteers stepping up week after week and taking the lead on how to best support our community, we would not have been able to sustain the program.”
The community food-share program started in 2017 as a Hamakua Youth Center cultural education cooking class for keiki. It expanded in 2019 to what it is today.
Executive chefs Sandy Barr Rivera and James McKenzie, along with Ravi Singh, and other kitchen volunteers “drive the mission with attention and care, providing high-quality meals to hundreds of people on a weekly basis,” according to the press release.
Feeding Our Keiki and Kupuna accepts donations of produce, paper bags, bags of rice, egg cartons and children’s books. Monetary donations are always appreciated as well.
Supporters can donate via Paypal at buff.ly/odYwJAT or send checks for the Peace Committee to Honoka‘a Hongwanji; P.O. Box 1667, Honoka‘a, HI 96727.
Call (808) 640-4602 or email to misterokumura@yahoo.com to find out how you can help keep feeding keiki, kupuna and others throughout the Hamakua Coast.
