Holiday Helpings

Make meals more merry for Maui County’s residents with Food Bank’s festive requests

November 27, 2011
By KEHAULANI CERIZO – Staff Writer (kehau@mauinews.com) , The Maui News
 
WAILUKU – Mysterious things happen at the Maui Food Bank warehouse – especially during the holidays.

Mashed potatoes are needed – and a business pulls through. Turkeys are sought, and individuals bring them in. Shelves are barren one week, and they get stacked a couple weeks later.

During a warehouse tour last week, Keith Wright, director of operations at Maui Food Bank, said the Wailuku facility is buzzing with the spirit of giving and needs are being met in amazing ways.

"Everybody is so thankful for what the community does to help the hungry," said Marlene Rice, MFB development director. "We never view it as ‘we’ are helping the hungry – it’s our community is helping us help the hungry."

Officials at the nonprofit, which serves as the food epicenter for more than 100 agencies that serve Maui County residents, said they are still seeking certain items to fulfill a "grocery shopping list" for the community groups that are making holiday meals. For the first time, MFB asked 85 agencies what they need specifically for holiday meals and 12 agencies responded with requests for turkeys, gravy and other items.

Wright said MFB is still trying to fill quotas for ham, green beans, fruit, stuffing and pie filling, in that order. The five items will complete the holiday list for the agencies, which are gearing up for Christmas and New Year’s plates. Wright said the MFB especially appreciates any "healthier choice" donations, such as low- or no sugar in canned fruit and low-sodium options in protein-based foods. That way, residents can eat healthier in general, and some with conditions such as diabetes will have healthy alternatives, Wright added.

During the holidays, MFB officials said more than 8,000 pounds of food go out the door each day. That’s a 15 to 20 percent increase from the 7,000 pounds of food issued daily during non-holiday months.

Deanne Kiesser, data processing administrator, said the food increases over the holidays because many agencies want to offer special meals for residents that go above and beyond survival sustenance. "If you’re down to your last $3, you’re not going to buy a pie," she said. Community groups want to offer the same holiday foods that other more fortunate people get to enjoy, Kiesser said.

Also, the season of giving keeps friends, family members, neighbors and strangers in need on people’s minds, especially in a tight-knit island community.

"You think, ‘Wow, I wonder if everybody I know is going to have a good holiday meal.’ " Kiesser said. "If someone gets laid off, it’s somebody’s aunty or uncle or cousin," she added. "It’s not like a big city where they’re not a face and you don’t really relate to it. When it’s your aunty, uncle, cousin, your brother, your sister, your nephew, your niece, you’re going to know about it and be concerned."

MFB relies on fresh produce, canned goods and just about any food that hasn’t been preprepared (unless it’s in a certified kitchen).

Donations span containers of food from large businesses to bags from individuals who have extra fruits and vegetables harvested from their yards.

MFB also recognized the efforts of more than 200 holiday food drives, from October through January, that have been organized by various individuals, businesses, schools, churches and other groups. Food drives are helpful in meeting quotas year-round, the staff said.

Another way to give this season is through a new Maui Food Bank holiday card. Make a financial donation in the honor of someone else, and a festive holiday card signed by MFB Executive Director Richard Yust will be sent to that person, noting that you donated in his or her name.

"People always ask us what’s better – financial or the food?" Kiesser said. "The food is immediate so that’s nice; and the financial is for the long run. So they both have their place, and they’re both equally important. They just have different functions. We need both to survive."

Rice said that basic-need nonprofits, such as MFB, will continue to have regular needs, no matter what the season. Especially as state and federal funding get cut for agencies MFB serves, the community’s role becomes that much more valuable.

"Somebody once asked me, ‘When do you have all your needs met?” Rice said. "And I’m going, ‘Uh, never. When do people stop eating?’"

Thankfully, quotas continue to be met- albeit with an element of faith and mystery – on a daily basis at the Maui Food Bank.

"The Mainland even will say, like our direct mail order company will say, ‘Hawaii is a very generous state,’" Rice said. "I think it’s because of the whole sense of ohana, that word, that feeling."

*Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kehau@mauinews.com.