Food Basket well-stocked, but short on funds

KAILUA-KONA — Pallets with boxes of food stack The Food Basket’s West Hawaii warehouse nearly to its ceiling, but the organization’s struggle is not in food donations.

The Food Basket continues to operate at a deficit budget as staff desperately work to provide its services to communities in the farther reaches of the island.

On Wednesday, En Young, executive director, said the food bank has been successful at soliciting food, but money is always a problem. The nonprofit organization needs funds to operate its trucks, continue to be certified with the state Department of Health and pay bills related to basic operating costs.

“Opening another food bank is not feasible,” Young said. “It makes more sense to drive it out there on an as-needed basis.”

“We’re picking up an average of 10,000 pounds of food a week,” said food bank employee David Haalilio.

He said The Food Basket works with 50 different agencies and serves 2,000 families.

The 86,000 pounds of food in the West Hawaii warehouse is from donations collected during the holidays. The next food drive is a national event, Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger, which takes place May 13.

The shelves and warehouse weren’t always abundantly stocked. Haalilio said a few years ago a story posted in West Hawaii Today talked about the low donations and need for food.

The community responded. Since then, Haalilio said, the warehouse and its shelves in Kailua-Kona have not suffered.

“It takes the community to feed one another,” Haalilio said.

Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.