Editorial: Keep Giving Tuesday going

Amid COVID-19, this holiday season’s Black Friday began well before Thanksgiving, as struggling retailers jumped in early. And Cyber Monday’s cachet was diminished after many cyber months of pandemic-induced online commerce.

Also somewhat lost was Giving Tuesday, the annual seasonal reminder to donate to charity and worthy causes. Lost, but it shouldn’t be forgotten.

For Hawaii, massive job losses and extended furloughs have propelled the state’s unemployment rate to among the highest in the nation; previously, it had been among the lowest. Hawaii’s joblessness rate now hovers at about 15%, still a far cry from the pre-pandemic rate of 2.4%.

The shutdown of Hawaii’s economy — most notably of tourism and its many related businesses — has increased poverty here. In June, an Aloha United Way report on financial hardship estimated that 42% of Hawaii’s 455,138 households struggle to make ends meet — and that another 35,000-plus households (105,000 people) will end up struggling by year’s end due to the pandemic.

More distressing news came in an October analysis by Feeding America, a national hunger relief group: Hawaii ranks No. 4 among states projected to have the largest percent change in food insecurity rates due to COVID-19, with a 50% surge in rates between 2018 and 2020. It projects Hawaii’s overall food insecurity rate this year to be 16.8% — some 233,000 people — up from 11.2% two years ago. That includes more than 80,000 people newly falling into food insecurity.

Hawaii’s children are projected to be particularly vulnerable, jumping to No. 6 from No. 19 in food insecurity due to rise in family unemployment — the Feeding America report quantifies that number at 89,050 keiki.

It’s little wonder, then, that when the pandemic hit here in March, one of the public-school system’s priorities was to prop up its subsidized- meals program for students. That, and similar sustenance actions, are critical, and must continue into the new year.

To that end, the Hawaii Foodbank has distributed nearly 19 million pounds of food since March, an alarming barometer of community need.

In Hawaii, residents have been kept largely afloat from deeper despair, thanks to the infusion of hundreds of millions of federal dollars, plus the kindness of strangers.

Public initiatives such as Giving Tuesday reminds us that generosity runs the gamut from food donations, to volunteers’ helping hands, to monetary contributions. In the spirit of the season, especially in this tumultuous 2020, give what you can — of time, of money, of kindness.