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‘Food for Hawaii’s Ohana’ holds second event at Aloha Stadium

By Craig T. Kojima

May 6, 2020

Coronavirus OutbreakCoronavirus Outbreak in HawaiiCoronavirus PhotosVideo

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Video by Craig T. Kojima / ckojima@staradvertiser.com
The second "Food for Hawaii's Ohana" event was held Wednesday at Aloha Stadium.
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Thousands of cars lined up once again for the second distribution of food at Aloha Stadium on Wednesday as part of a new program to help those struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Cars began lining up outside the stadium as early as 7 a.m. for the “Food for Hawaii‘s Ohana” giveaway scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., and were backed up along Kahuapaani Street as far as the H-3 freeway off-ramp.
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The giveaway is part of a public-private partnership between the City and County of Honolulu, the Hawaii Foodbank, the Bank of Hawaii and Hawaii Community foundations to provide food assistance to recently unemployed individuals.
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The wait was once again an average of four hours, but police officers managed the traffic, and drivers waited patiently in their cars as they wound their way through stadium parking lot to reach the food distribution tents.
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On Wednesday, volunteers distributed bags of fresh produce including a pineapple, papayas, and tomatoes, along with bread, potatoes, frozen chicken and juice donated by local farmers and companies.
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Families are encouraged to carpool – with two to three households represented by an adult per car — in order to reduce traffic. Most who waited in line on Wednesday, however, represented mostly one household, and some had three generations in a car, including mom, dad, a daughter and grandkids.
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Those in line for the distribution are asked a few questions, including their names, whether they are recently unemployed due to the pandemic, the number of adults and children in their home, and whether they are receiving public assistance.
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No one, however, is turned away, and everyone receives food as long as supplies last, said Ron Mizutani, CEO of Hawaii Foodbank on-site.
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As part of the program, the city matched a $1 million donation from the Hawaii Resilience Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation for COVID-19 relief efforts, bringing the total to $2 million. Funds go to the Hawaii Foodbank to deploy food distributions at the new locations across Oahu, in addition to ones that already exist through 200 partner agencies islandwide.
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Four partners – Sysco Hawaii, Hawaii Foodservice Alliance, Hawaii Ranchers Kauai, Hawaii island, Maui and Oahu, and the Hawaii Farm Bureau — are providing food for an estimated 4,000 households at each distribution site.
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Another food distribution event is scheduled for Friday at Leeward Community College, and more are slated for Aloha Stadium.
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