Salvation Army and Partners to Provide Food Boxes for Mother’s Day

The Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands is hosting an emergency food drive-through on O‘ahu Maui and the Big Island for Mother’s Day.

With support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in collaboration with Y. Haha & Co. Ltd. and Hawai‘i State VOAD, Saturday’s event will provide approximately 1,200 families with food for meals, fresh produce and more statewide.

“With so many in Hawaii worried about where their next meal will come from, we are extremely grateful for the generous support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to help make these special Mother’s Day weekend events possible,” said Victor Leonardi, Divisional Director of Emergency Services & Safety and Incident Commander for The Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands Division.

Wailana Kamau‘u, communication director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said the church was pleased to participate with the Salvation Army in the opportunity to pay tribute to mothers on Mother’s Day.

“In these challenging times, we are grateful that families throughout the state will be able to gather and break bread with the loving matriarchs of their homes through this food outreach initiative,” Kamau‘u said. “One of the four pillars of our Church’s mission is to care for the poor and needy. Therefore, we will always seek to be ‘anxiously engaged in a good cause.’ This is indeed a noble objective and we give thanks to all of the the participating sponsors for collaborating with us in this noteworthy endeavor.”

The food drive-throughs will take place in Kona and Hilo. The event starts at 9 and will continue while supplies last. Hilo’s drive-through will be held at The Salvation Army’s Hilo Temple Corps, 219 Ponohawai St. One hundred food boxes will be available.

The entrance to the event will be the east-side parking lot entrance where volunteers will direct cars to the distribution area.

Food drive in Kona will be held at The Salvation Army’s Kona Corps 75-223 Kalani St. where 100 food boxes will be available.

Cars will be allowed to line up with trunks open starting at 8:30 a.m. The entrance to the event will be Kalani Street toward The Salvation Army Kona Corps and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where volunteers will direct cars to the distribution area.

To practice safe social distancing, everyone is asked to stay in their cars at both locations. Volunteers will place the food items inside car trunks. Monetary donations to support the efforts of The Salvation Army can be made at hawaii.salvationarmy.org or by calling 808-440-1800.

“We understand what a difficult time this is for many and would like to support the community through these food boxes. Live Aloha, Give Aloha!” said Russell J. Hata, Chairman, CEO, and President of Y. Hata & Co., Ltd.