County Council members are fast-tracking money to two local nonprofits to combat hunger on the Big Island.
The council on Wednesday unanimously approved $12,000 in contingency relief funds to support free meals for community members in North, Central and South Kona at Laiopua 2020’s new commercial kitchen.
Then it approved $27,900 in contingency relief to the Food Basket, Hawaii Island’s food bank. In an unscheduled action made possible under the state of emergency, the council also approved $50,000 so the Food Basket can hire a COVID-19 response manager.
“I think everybody’s beefing up all their coordination efforts right now,” said North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff. “It’s great.”
Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy said she hopes federal money will also be coming in to help feed residents, so many of whom have lost their jobs in the hospitality industry during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think this just bridges the gap for real services before government appropriations can fill in,” Lee Loy said. “I cannot stress enough that food security is really a struggle for so many of our families.”
Kawehi Inaba, president of the Laiopua 2020 board, was thrilled with the contributions that came from the contingency relief accounts of Councilwomen Eoff, Rebecca Villegas and Maile David.
“It’s extremely helpful,” Inaba said Thursday. “There’s such a need for the community to come together to malama each other. … We get together and work with volunteers in the community. We are just cooking tons of food. … It’s a real cool way for L2020 to further engage with our community.”
The kitchen is currently offering hot dinners to drive-up community members from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays, or until the food runs out. Only as many dinners as people in the car will be provided.
And what a menu it is. Thursday’s offering of chicken hekka and fish combo with rice and tsukemono was prepared by chefs from the Mauna Lani and Four Seasons resorts. Inaba said the nonprofit is shooting for 500 meals a week, and invites other groups and restaurants who want to take over the kitchen to get in touch.
Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz dipped into her contingency account to give $27,900 to the Food Basket. The need is great she said, describing how ohana drops in Pahala have escalated from 90 households to 220. Another community, she said, typically accepts boxes for 200 households, yet 700 households showed up for food.
“So we are really seeing massive need a lot sooner than expected and there is a mad dash as we saw with lava to help initially but this is some money that’s set aside to help the Food Basket fill the gap should philanthropy money run out or we are continuously waiting for the federal government money to come in,” Kierkiewicz said.
Council contingency funds are little pots of money allocated to each council district — $100,000 each this year — that council members can give to nonprofits or government agencies in a noncompetitive process after full council approval.