Charitable food pantry needs angel

After 18 years of helping to fill cupboards and bellies from its Kakaako food pantry, Feeding Hawaii Together is on the brink of becoming homeless. It’s a service the community can ill afford to lose.

The nonprofit — which distributes more than 3 million pounds of free food to more than 53,000 households — will lose its lease right after Thanksgiving and must quickly find a new space. With so many clients to serve, especially during the holidays, Feeding Hawaii Together will need to find a generous landlord much sooner rather than later.

“We need an angel landlord of some type,” said Gill Berger, who serves on its board of directors.

Surely one exists, who sees the urgency of supporting this worthy cause.

Just by the sheer numbers it serves, it’s evident that Feeding Hawaii Together is desperately needed. Clients show up at its Keawe Street location from as far away as Waianae to fill shopping carts with everything from canned goods to vegetables to cookies — which helps so many of them get through the month.

The nonprofit is hoping to find about 10,000 square feet of space, about half of what it now occupies in fast-redeveloping Kakaako, anywhere from Mapunapuna to Moiliili. Unfortunately, available space is at an all-time low.

So many of us at one time or another have seen hard times, and when such a large segment of the population is living hand to mouth, food pantries and other vital services become lifelines.

The nonprofit provides nourishment for seniors, adults, teens and children — homeless or housed. A startling number of Hawaii’s children are growing up in poverty — 15 percent, up from 10 percent in 2008, according to the 2016 Kids Count Data Book — so the need is definitely there and unfortunately, increasing.

Nine to 10 percent of the nonprofit’s clients are homeless and the other 90 percent are trying to make ends meet, according to Charlie Lorenz, executive director of Feeding Hawaii Together. It’s especially telling that a majority of the clientele are working poor and half are senior citizens — vulnerable yet dignified populations.

What is different and special about Feeding Hawaii Together is its approach. Food isn’t just prepackaged for clients; clients use shopping carts and choose the foods they want and need.

That makes all the difference for the Kamahoahoa family, which uses Feeding Hawaii Together as a resource — after rent and bills are paid. The Kamahoahoas said they appreciate “the sense of dignity” they feel while shopping at the pantry.

“The community cannot afford to not have these people servicing everyone,” said Gerald Shintaku, president of the Hawaii Foodbank, which supplies Feeding Hawaii Together with proteins, fresh produce and canned goods.

There has been so much talk lately of Gov. David Ige’s recently announced goal to double the amount of food the state produces by 2030. While that may be a worthy aspiration, the more immediate need is to feed those who are struggling to feed themselves on a day-to-day basis — and in the near term, one way to meet that need is to keep Feeding Hawaii Together.