Pasha Hawai‘i Donates $30K to Boys & Girls Club

The Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island is getting assistance from one of the nation’s leading domestic shipping companies to support its hot meal program.

Pasha Hawai‘i recently donated $30,000 to the club that will be used for its Nutritional Supplementation program. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the club delivered a record-breaking 275,000 individual free hot meals — averaging 800-900 meals a day — during a one-year period to families and keiki in rural communities who were severely impacted by the pandemic.

“As we embark on this new year, the generous contribution made by Pasha Hawai‘i couldn’t have come at a better time,“ said Chad Cabral, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island, in a press release. “Many of the youth we see are going to school not just for the learning and academics, they are going to school to eat. And for some, lunch at school will be their last meal of the day until breakfast the following school day.”

According to Cabral, the club will continue to distribute individual free hot meals and snacks after school for youth under the meal program, which currently averages 400-500 meals a day.

“Our meals provided after school have been an essential resource for children, in helping them to fulfill their nutritional needs for the day,” Cabral said in the release.

At 26%, the Big Island continues to have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the state.

“It is through partnerships established with community minded businesses, like Pasha Hawai‘i, who shares in a common vision, to help meet the needs of our most in-need and vulnerable youth,” Cabral added in the press release.

In addition to the cash donation, the Pasha Hawai‘i recently underwrote the shipping costs to bring in specialized food serving containers, allowing the club to hot seal food items and then deliver them to keiki and families in need.

“The pandemic has certainly had an impact on food security with many losing their employment income through no fault of their own,” said George Pasha IV, president and CEO of Pasha Hawai‘i, in the press release. “No one should have to worry about not having enough food or not having access to nutritional meals for themselves or their family. The dedicated staff at the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island continue to do a phenomenal job helping thousands of families and children in need, and we are honored to support them in their humanitarian efforts.”

For more than 72 years, the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island has supported families with critical needs and key youth development programming around Hawai‘i Island, serving mostly the rural areas of Hilo, Kea‘au, Pahoa, Kaʻū, Ocean View and the greater Kona region.

“Thank you to Pasha Hawai‘i for the continued support and partnership that helps to keep all of our current after-school programming free for kids to participate in,” Cabral said in the release. “It takes a community to raise a child on Hawai‘i Island and let’s continue to partner together for a brighter future.”