Drive some food to the Food Drive

Do yourself, and others in need, a favor: Do some spring cleaning.

Specifically, go to your pantry and cull some of your canned goods for the Hawaii Foodbank.

April is Food Drive Month, and it’s a reminder that many people in Hawaii don’t have the means for basic necessities like food.

Take the canned goods to the food bank warehouse at 2611 Kilihau St. in Mapunapuna. Or wait till April 21, when drop-off sites will be set up on Oahu.

If it’s too much trouble hauling those heavy cans down, money’s always good. Send that check to Hawaii Foodbank, 2611 Kilihau St., Honolulu 96819.

It’s taxing to be poor in Hawaii

There’s not as much aloha for the working poor as you might think in the Aloha State.

So say the folks at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, anyway.

The center came out this week with a report that says, among other sad little factoids, that Hawaii is worse than most states about taxing the working poor.

Hawaii is one of only 10 states that taxes families of three who are living at or below the poverty line. A two-parent family of four in this state with annual income at the poverty line ($23,018 for a family of that size) was assessed $331. Only two other states — Alabama at $548 and Illinois at $509 — had bigger tax bills.

It’s probably the regressive nature of the general excise tax. Next time someone proposes an exemption for food and drugs, the biggest part of a poor family’s budget, these statistics may suggest an explanation.