Feed-A-Thon Collects Over 73K Pounds of Food

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon collected over 73,000 pounds of food at five KTA Super Stores and Hawai`i Community Federal Credit Union locations during its ten-day span.

Tommy “Kahikina” Ching, longtime ambassador for The Food Basket, collected non-perishable food and monetary donations from Feb. 8 through Feb. 17 at five participating KTA Super Stores, including Kailua-Kona, Waikoloa, Waimea, Puainako and Keauhou locations.

HCFCU paralleled the efforts by raising funds and collecting food at its locations.

This year’s Feed-A-Thon total of 73,579 pounds far surpassed last year’s event total of 38,348 pounds. Last year’s drive was cut short and impacted by the threat of severe storms.

“My Hunger Angel provided us with overall a very nice jump start, which gave a boost to the volume raised,” said Ching.

That anonymous donor kicked-off the drive with a donation of 11,156 pounds of food, which helped to lead to one of the highest total volumes of food raised during the Feed-A-Thon in recent years.

The community’s dollar-by-dollar and can-by-can heeded Ching’s infamous “one can if can” advice and raised over 62,000 pounds, which rounded out the total poundage.

“Mahalo to those that gave what they could and local businesses for continuing to support the annual drive, “said Ching. “When we all join hands, powerful things can happen.”

“Another year of the Feed-A-Thon is in the books and we are appreciative of the community’s continued support,” said The Food Basket Executive Director En Young. “This drive brings out a unique opportunity that allows us to connect with our community first-hand. It’s one of the unique aspects of a 10-day, island-wide drive.”

One in five Hawai‘i Island residents are served by The Food Basket through a network of nearly 100 partnering agencies islandwide. With one in three children in Hawai‘i County eligible for free or reduced school meals, and many families and kupuna facing high levels of food-insecurity, The Food Basket is in need of community support on a year-round basis.

For more information on ways to help feed the hungry on Hawai‘i Island, contact The Food Basket at (808) 933-6030 or visit www.hawaiifoodbasket.org.

About The Food Basket Mission

The mission of The Food Basket, Inc. is to feed the hungry in Hawai‘i County while attending to the root causes of this critical social problem. The Food Basket will accomplish its mission by preventing the waste of all edible food in Hawai‘i County, feeding the hungry with this food, educating the community about local hunger and what can be done to solve this social problem, and collaborating with organizations of partnering missions to eradicate poverty, the root of hunger and other social ills.

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon.

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon.

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon.

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon.

The Food Basket, Inc. – Hawai`I Island’s Food Bank’s annual Feed-A-Thon.