Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Amy Miller of the Hawaii Foodbank on this year's annual report and the City's annual Food Drive

Transcript

Amy Miller of the Hawaii Foodbank on this year's annual report and the City's annual Food Drive · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and this week we're joined by Amy
• 0:20
  Miller, president and CEO of the Hawaii Food Bank.
• 0:23
  Amy, thanks for making some time for us.
• 0:25
  Thank you so much for having me. I'm really glad to be here.
• 0:28
  You know, it's really tough because we're on the heels of a major storm.
• 0:31
  And so after emergencies like the one that we just experienced,
• 0:34
  what kind of impact does that have on your operations?
• 0:37
  And do you see,
• 0:38
  you know, a bump or anything like that in need following these events?
• 0:41
  So, you know, disaster response and emergency
• 0:45
  preparedness is a big part of our mission and what we do.
• 0:48
  One of the things that we really need to think about,
• 0:50
  when we see events like big storms,
• 0:54
  one is that, you know, we already are serving,
• 0:57
  gosh, we're serving as many people right now
• 0:59
  as we did in the height of the pandemic, or serving more than 160,000
• 1:02
  people on average each month.
• 1:05
  So we need to make sure that people that are in, in need
• 1:10
  and need food assistance during blue skies are still able to get
• 1:13
  that food assistance even when things shift
• 1:17
  and we have disasters or emergency response.
• 1:19
  So it, it is definitely a challenge to make sure that we're
• 1:23
  still able to get food to the folks that need it on the day to day.
• 1:27
  But then also, how do we make sure that people that might not have normally needed
• 1:31
  food assistance but encountered a disaster displaced from their homes?
• 1:36
  How do we make sure that they get the food they need as well?
• 1:38
  So it is definitely a challenge.
• 1:41
  And this year, I know that you mentioned that 160,000 number,
• 1:44
  but this year's State of Food Insecurity in Hawaii report is out.
• 1:48
  Can you tell us about this year's analysis?
• 1:51
  What kind of picture does it paint?
• 1:52
  You know, I think for us,
• 1:55
  it it continued to demonstrate that,
• 1:58
  you know, food insecurity is a really critical issue here in Hawai'i. So
• 2:03
  this year, we found that 32% of households across the state are food insecure.
• 2:07
  That's a lot.
• 2:08
  You know, 1 in 3 households are having a hard time getting access to enough food.
• 2:13
  And it's the other thing that I think for us,
• 2:16
  you know, a couple of other things that were especially concerning.
• 2:20
  One is this, you know, so food insecurity generally is not enough food
• 2:24
  in the household for everybody to live a healthy, active lifestyle.
• 2:26
  And it might change over time. Right?
• 2:28
  There might be and be okay, ten months of the year,
• 2:31
  but there's a couple months or something happens, right?
• 2:33
  You, someone got sick, so you maybe you missed some hours at work
• 2:38
  or you got to pay for your, car registration, right?
• 2:42
  There are these events that can just make it hard.
• 2:45
  Maybe just for a short period of time for people to get enough food on the table.
• 2:51
  And we also see for a lot of folks that it might just be,
• 2:55
  they might not have to miss meals, but
• 2:57
  you might need to make some compromises on the kinds of food you're eating.
• 3:00
  So you might still
• 3:02
  be getting enough calories for them that might not be healthy.
• 3:05
  Right?
• 3:06
  And then we start to see the health impacts of that down the line.
• 3:08
  Right.
• 3:09
  So it's kind of one category of like, food insecurity.
• 3:12
  But we also have this, like very food insecure population
• 3:16
  where families are not eating, you know, skipping meals,
• 3:20
  going hungry and not eating sometimes for whole days at a time.
• 3:24
  And another thing we found this past year, 11% of our households are missing
• 3:30
  missing meals and going without
• 3:32
  leaving for whole days on a pretty regular basis.
• 3:35
  This summer, most months of the year.
• 3:37
  So you know that.
• 3:38
  And that's something it's a little bit different
• 3:40
  from what we might see on the continent, where you know more
• 3:44
  that percentage of very food insecure folks is, is smaller.
• 3:49
  So it's it's a pretty significant issue here.
• 3:53
  And it's a little bit hidden.
• 3:54
  You know, I think a lot of times people are embarrassed to talk about it, right?
• 3:58
  Like we're a very food based culture.
• 4:03
  People bring food, people share food.
• 4:05
  It's a way we share our histories and our families and our cultures,
• 4:10
  and show love for each other.
• 4:11
  So I think it's really hard for folks who are having,
• 4:15
  you know, having difficulty.
• 4:17
  And they may they may not want to talk about it, but when you're,
• 4:21
  when you're talking 1 in 3 people, we all know families that are struggling.
• 4:26
  Yeah. But you might just not realize it.
• 4:29
  I like that you mentioned, you know, the it's a little bit of a different situation
• 4:33
  than maybe someone who's food insecure on the mainland.
• 4:36
  What kind of factors are driving what we're seeing,
• 4:39
  especially in this report this year here in Hawai'i.
• 4:41
  So, you know, I really think it comes down to affordability, right?
• 4:46
  The cost,
• 4:47
  cost of living,
• 4:49
  the price of food has gone up substantially since before the pandemic.
• 4:54
  More than more than 30%.
• 4:55
  I think we all see that.
• 4:57
  We all might feel that when we go to the grocery store.
• 5:00
  And you get sticker shock, right?
• 5:02
  Eggs are way more expensive.
• 5:04
  Everything is more expensive.
• 5:06
  And so I think it's it is hitting it kind of across the board.
• 5:10
  But for families who have seen, you know,
• 5:13
  either income didn't go up by 30%, right.
• 5:16
  And your rent probably didn't,
• 5:19
  go down and your electricity bills didn't go down.
• 5:22
  So, you know, really, people have a certain amount of income
• 5:27
  every, every month.
• 5:29
  And as rent gets bigger and the cost of,
• 5:33
  you know, your gas, all of these other expenses that folks have,
• 5:37
  the thing that for a lot of people, they end up feeling is the one,
• 5:42
  the one expense that you can economize on a little bit is food, right?
• 5:46
  Because you can't pay half your rent, but you can buy less food.
• 5:50
  So so we start to see as people like, buy less food, buy,
• 5:54
  less expensive food, which might also be less healthy food.
• 5:57
  And we also see people,
• 5:59
  needing to take these just really what we call impossible choices, right.
• 6:02
  Do I put food on the table?
• 6:04
  Or if I gas in my car so I can go to work?
• 6:07
  Another thing that we saw,
• 6:09
  this year in our in our food insecurity study is that people are making,
• 6:14
  health compromises too, so they might skip going to the doctor,
• 6:18
  or they may skip purchasing a prescription medication that they need.
• 6:22
  But it's that or feed my kids tonight.
• 6:26
  You know,
• 6:27
  a lot of people will choose to make sure their families are taken care of,
• 6:30
  but they're making sacrifices in their own health.
• 6:33
  What kind of differences did you see compared to last year?
• 6:36
  I think the biggest change that we saw was amongst families with children.
• 6:41
  And this is hard. This is really hard.
• 6:43
  Last year, 29% of our keiki were food insecure.
• 6:47
  This year, that number is up to 34%.
• 6:50
  It's still, you know, within the margin of errors,
• 6:53
  but every every statistics that was looking at families with children went up.
• 6:58
  So we saw, you know,
• 6:59
  that increased 34% of children in food insecure in households were food insecure.
• 7:05
  We also saw a big bump in adults, caregiver.
• 7:09
  So in households with children, 34% of those children are food insecure,
• 7:15
  45% of the adults in that household are food insecure.
• 7:20
  That number also went up last year was 38%.
• 7:23
  So that means 45%.
• 7:24
  Almost half of our adult caregivers are going without.
• 7:30
  And it makes sense, like all of those of us who have kids totally get it right.
• 7:34
  Parents will,
• 7:36
  you know, skip a meal.
• 7:39
  So that to be sure that their kids have enough to eat.
• 7:42
  But as a result, you know, almost half of our parents not getting enough to eat.
• 7:47
  I mean, there are long term health impacts and societal impacts from that.
• 7:53
  Our kids obviously can't do their best in school
• 7:56
  if they're hungry and our parents can't do their best work if you're hungry.
• 8:00
  Right.
• 8:00
  Like, so I really just think that doing this research and really starting
• 8:05
  to get a better sense of what food insecurity looks like here in Hawai'i,
• 8:09
  it's just really kind of a call to action for all of us to to say this isn't okay.
• 8:15
  You know,
• 8:16
  we live in a place where people really do take care of each other,
• 8:19
  and we see that over and over.
• 8:21
  You know, we think about like in times of disaster, in times of crisis,
• 8:25
  people in Hawai'i really help each other out.
• 8:29
  And we're lucky at the food bank that we get to be a part of that.
• 8:33
  But I think a big, oh, you know, Wake-Up call for all of us is, is
• 8:37
  this is now kind of a chronic situation.
• 8:40
  It's not driven by a disaster.
• 8:42
  This is, day to day.
• 8:45
  Too many people just aren't able to afford enough food.
• 8:49
  I know another population that people kind of worry about.
• 8:53
  You know, of course, our children.
• 8:54
  But what do those numbers look like for seniors?
• 8:57
  And then especially year to year, how does that look?
• 8:59
  So, our seniors, you know, as you look at food insecurity
• 9:04
  kind of across the age, age range, our seniors are actually
• 9:08
  have the lowest number, lowest percentage of food insecurity.
• 9:12
  It's still quite high, you know, 20 I can't I think it's 20% of our put our.
• 9:17
  Why is that secure.
• 9:19
  It's a you know, we're not totally sure.
• 9:22
  I think one question that we have,
• 9:26
  is around, you know, pride or
• 9:27
  people answering honestly,
• 9:32
  the way that we that we conduct the surveys online.
• 9:36
  So maybe some of our kupuna are not, you know, don't have a smartphone
• 9:39
  or don't have access to the internet.
• 9:42
  But even so,
• 9:45
  you know, 1 in 5 is still far too many, right?
• 9:48
  And lots of our seniors are on,
• 9:52
  are on fixed income, so it's really difficult to make ends meet.
• 9:56
  So I think we,
• 9:59
  we are quite focused on our kupuna and how we best serve,
• 10:04
  serve our seniors.
• 10:06
  But it's the actually the age cohort
• 10:09
  that has the highest levels of food insecurity are young adults.
• 10:13
  So, young adults aged 18 to 20 and more than half, are food insecure.
• 10:18
  More than half of our,
• 10:21
  folks enrolled in higher ed.
• 10:22
  So that's that's actually a cohort that we haven't thought about quite as much.
• 10:26
  I think we automatically go to like, hey, we know we got to take care of our
• 10:30
  of our kupuna.
• 10:31
  We have to take care of our keiki.
• 10:33
  But our, our young adults are really struggling.
• 10:36
  Yeah, that's where things start to kick in, like tuition and car payments and,
• 10:40
  you know, trying to rent your first place and things like that.
• 10:43
  Exactly.
• 10:44
  Jumping back to that 34% number you mentioned for for children,
• 10:48
  what kind of trends are you seeing in terms of our public schools
• 10:51
  and if they have the resources to feed every child in need?
• 10:55
  So, you know, I think we've made some great strides
• 10:59
  over the last year in terms of moving towards universal free school meals.
• 11:03
  So that's great.
• 11:05
  You know, now this year, all children who previously qualified for,
• 11:11
  reduced price lunch now get free lunch.
• 11:13
  So that's a big help.
• 11:14
  And next year, everyone who families
• 11:18
  who make under 300% of the federal poverty level will now qualify.
• 11:21
  So this is an idea to really help our Alice households, right?
• 11:25
  Folks who, aren't technically
• 11:29
  in the, wouldn't, wouldn't qualify before, but
• 11:32
  those are the folks that we're actually seeing more and more
• 11:35
  are really needing help.
• 11:36
  So as we kind of look at our, our numbers and people that are coming
• 11:42
  to the food bank for the very first time, most of them are employed.
• 11:46
  They work.
• 11:47
  A lot of times they're working not just one job,
• 11:49
  but two jobs or three jobs. And they have always
• 11:51
  been able to make ends meet and they just can't do it anymore.
• 11:55
  So we are really focusing on our, our keiki.
• 11:58
  We have a number of different programs.
• 12:01
  We have a school pantry program right now in 59 schools.
• 12:04
  And these are places
• 12:05
  where kids can get healthy snack during the day, and then they,
• 12:10
  either take home like a 3 to 5 pound bag of food for the weekend,
• 12:14
  or many of our pantries are now what we call choice pantries, where the kids
• 12:19
  sometimes have parents at the end of the school day,
• 12:21
  when they come to pick up their kids, they can go
• 12:22
  and actually just get the foods that they need.
• 12:25
  So it's nice.
• 12:26
  It like, gives people a lot of dignity and agency.
• 12:29
  Are we less waste? Right.
• 12:31
  Because you're not giving folks foods that they might not eat, right?
• 12:34
  So that's a really exciting program that we're looking to continue to expand.
• 12:39
  You know, ideally, we'd like to be in every school
• 12:43
  where there are kids who need a little bit of support.
• 12:46
  And then we also have programs that specifically
• 12:49
  focus on, that kind of out of school time.
• 12:52
  Right?
• 12:52
  So summer breaks and, holiday breaks get spring break coming up.
• 12:57
  You know, these are times that are really difficult for families, right?
• 13:01
  If you're counting on your kid getting a good breakfast and lunch at school.
• 13:06
  And for a lot of kids, that might be the,
• 13:09
  you know, the main square meals that they're getting.
• 13:12
  Weekends are hard and breaks are hard.
• 13:15
  So we do,
• 13:18
  we participate in Kalka for keiki, so we're able to get,
• 13:21
  you know, food boxes to families.
• 13:23
  We have we partner to get hot meals to kids who participate
• 13:27
  in different programs.
• 13:28
  We're also working on expanding an after school meal program
• 13:32
  that we also do in partnership with After-School All-Stars.
• 13:35
  So just as many different ways that we can to find,
• 13:40
  to make sure kids, you know, have enough to eat, whether that school
• 13:44
  or on break, as you're mentioning these programs, that's remarkable.
• 13:49
  But how does the landscape on the federal level affect, our federal
• 13:55
  food assistance programs and the ones you're talking about here in Hawaii?
• 13:58
  So you know, the changes that were made over the past year,
• 14:03
  to some of the federal programs are, are frightening, you know,
• 14:08
  snap the, what we call food stamps
• 14:11
  is, is a really important program for 165,000 individuals in Hawaii.
• 14:16
  Access snap and rely on snap.
• 14:18
  Really to get to get food.
• 14:21
  And, you know, the changes last summer
• 14:23
  were made to,
• 14:26
  programs like snap to to reduce access.
• 14:30
  So those are get those are starting to kick in over this next year.
• 14:34
  So I think we are quite concerned that we'll start to see people who previously,
• 14:40
  qualified and receive Snap benefits who will no longer qualify.
• 14:43
  And then I, you know, we'll probably need to turn to food banks
• 14:47
  or other programs to get support.
• 14:51
  And, you know, Medicaid,
• 14:52
  there's also cuts to the Medicaid program that kick in next year.
• 14:56
  So I think as we are kind of like looking at the landscape for,
• 15:02
  you know, food insecurity,
• 15:04
  these, these federal safety nets
• 15:07
  as they are starting to get cut back.
• 15:09
  You know, I think people will look
• 15:11
  to the terrible Food Network and, and food banks to step in.
• 15:15
  And we also had our direct some direct federal funding cut back this last year.
• 15:20
  So some of the foods that we are getting from the USDA, big program was canceled.
• 15:26
  We were really fortunate to get support from the state.
• 15:29
  State has really stepped in
• 15:30
  to make sure that people get access to the food that they need.
• 15:34
  So, you know, I think we are,
• 15:37
  fortunate that we live in a
• 15:39
  place where government really does support,
• 15:42
  sitting county supporting in so many ways as well.
• 15:46
  You know, through the, the food drive that we have,
• 15:51
  and, you know, I think it is just really important that we,
• 15:55
  we all, you know, do what we can to be sure that our neighbors are getting
• 15:59
  enough food. And this is a challenging time.
• 16:02
  You know, it is.
• 16:02
  We're already seeing these levels of food insecurity.
• 16:07
  You know, I'd say critical levels.
• 16:11
  And then to see these federal programs kind of getting cut,
• 16:16
  is, is we're we're really nervous.
• 16:19
  With that said, this was one of the reasons
• 16:22
  why would be a good time to catch up with you, because the City
• 16:25
  and County of Honolulu has launched its annual food at Fund Drive.
• 16:29
  You can also donate funds, for the Hawai'i Food Bank.
• 16:32
  How can those listening help out?
• 16:34
  What would you you know, what's your advice and what's most needed?
• 16:37
  So, we are so grateful
• 16:40
  to partner with the city, and county on this.
• 16:43
  This annual food drive is just really a beautiful way for where we see,
• 16:48
  you know, those who are already involved in public service are.
• 16:51
  And so even county employees really stepping up
• 16:53
  to take care of their neighbors.
• 16:55
  And this really fundamental way. Right.
• 16:57
  Making sure someone has enough to eat.
• 16:59
  So I know there's places that you can donate, food,
• 17:02
  you know, all kinds of nonperishable food items.
• 17:05
  We gratefully accepted.
• 17:07
  We make sure that goes out through our network.
• 17:09
  We work with about 275 partner agencies and pantries, hunger partners.
• 17:15
  So these are could be a school, could be a church, could be a nonprofit.
• 17:19
  But we are, you know, partnering with these incredible organizations
• 17:24
  on the ground that are getting food into communities.
• 17:25
  So you really can trust, you know, if you make a donation of food
• 17:28
  or funds to Hawaii Food Bank, we will get it to those who need it most.
• 17:33
  So you can donate food.
• 17:34
  We also, it's food and fund drive.
• 17:37
  So, we also gratefully accept dollars.
• 17:41
  And one of the things that we're really proud about a Hawaii
• 17:43
  food bank, is we can really stretch a dollar.
• 17:46
  So, we did a little study last year just to kind of understand,
• 17:50
  you know, how far dollars stretch, because when we're purchasing food,
• 17:55
  a lot, you know, we're purchasing at the container level, right?
• 17:58
  So it's obviously like we buy in bulk.
• 18:01
  We have great relationships with Mattson and Fisher.
• 18:05
  The able to get, our overseas, shipping covered.
• 18:11
  And we have relationships with food banks on the continent that also really help.
• 18:16
  So we're able to access very low cost, but still healthy food
• 18:20
  coming in both from the continent.
• 18:21
  And we also work with lots of local farmers so we can buy,
• 18:26
  produce and poi and different,
• 18:29
  you know, important food items directly from our local farmers as well.
• 18:34
  So we did this little study just to understand how far our dollar stretch.
• 18:38
  And we found that on average, our our dollar stretch is about five times
• 18:41
  as far as any of us could do, like going to the grocery store.
• 18:44
  So I know sometimes people feel a little bit like,
• 18:48
  you know, guilty about, you know, it's feels better to donate food.
• 18:52
  You go to the grocery store
• 18:53
  and you buy food and you donate it to the food bank.
• 18:55
  But, I would encourage people to not feel guilty about that
• 18:58
  because it's actually a very, very efficient way to make a gift.
• 19:02
  So you can give $10 and instead of $10 worth of food,
• 19:06
  we can actually turn that into $50 worth of food when we purchase it.
• 19:10
  And the other thing that it allows us to do
• 19:11
  is it allows us to buy food that people are really looking for.
• 19:13
  That's harder to donate, like produce.
• 19:16
  In fact,
• 19:18
  I think one of the things that whenever I talk to people
• 19:20
  about the work that we do, the food bank maybe surprises a lot of folks is,
• 19:25
  it produces is actually
• 19:28
  about a third of all the food we distribute right now is fresh produce.
• 19:32
  Like last year, we distributed more than 7 million pounds of fresh produce,
• 19:37
  some of that sourced right here on Oahu in partnership
• 19:39
  with our farmers, some of it coming from partnerships on the continent.
• 19:43
  But, this is, again, one of those things that we're really finding the families
• 19:48
  that we're serving, they're looking for because especially if you're, you know,
• 19:52
  times are tight, produce tends to be one of the first things
• 19:55
  that falls off of people's grocery list, right?
• 19:57
  Because it's expensive and it doesn't last.
• 20:00
  So if you're really, you know, trying to economize, people will,
• 20:04
  you know, stop buying that fresh produce.
• 20:05
  But of course, it's so important from a health perspective.
• 20:10
  So just know,
• 20:11
  you know, if you're donating dollars to Hawai'i Food Bank,
• 20:14
  we can really stretch a dollar
• 20:15
  and we can make sure people are getting access to foods like fresh produce that,
• 20:20
  we will accept.
• 20:21
  You know, if you have, say, fruits from your backyard
• 20:24
  and you want to donate them, you can bring them down.
• 20:26
  We gratefully accept those.
• 20:27
  But it is a little bit harder to donate something like fresh produce.
• 20:31
  Yeah.
• 20:32
  You know, and you know, all these numbers that you mentioned,
• 20:35
  it kind of just shows how tough times are right now.
• 20:38
  But for those maybe who can't contribute through food or monetary donations,
• 20:43
  what are some ways they can volunteer their time and energy to buy food?
• 20:46
  They you know, we rely on volunteers.
• 20:49
  So heavily we can never do what we do without this
• 20:52
  just really incredible network of volunteers.
• 20:54
  And it's a really important way to give back, you know, if you can,
• 20:58
  if you can spare the time, go to our website.
• 21:01
  We have ways to sign up as volunteers.
• 21:03
  We have volunteers almost every single day.
• 21:06
  We have different volunteer opportunities.
• 21:07
  You can come down to the warehouse and help us sort or pack food.
• 21:11
  And we also part again, we have this incredible network of partner agencies.
• 21:15
  So we can also connect volunteers, maybe with a distribution right
• 21:18
  in your own neighborhood so you can help your neighbors that way too.
• 21:23
  Who's
• 21:23
  eligible to receive resources from the Hawaii Food Bank?
• 21:26
  You know, we don't turn anyone away, so anyone that needs help
• 21:30
  will get help with from Hawaii Food Bank, no questions asked.
• 21:33
  And any of our partners who really want to be sure, we know.
• 21:37
  In fact, for a lot of folks, it's
• 21:39
  that especially asking that first time for help can be really hard.
• 21:43
  You know, we are,
• 21:46
  you know, people are proud,
• 21:48
  and it can be really difficult to ask for help, but we feel really strongly
• 21:52
  that everybody deserves access to safe and healthy food.
• 21:55
  It does not matter.
• 21:56
  Doesn't matter what kind of car you drive.
• 21:58
  None of that matters.
• 21:59
  What matters is that you know your neighbor and we're going to be there for you.
• 22:04
  So yeah, anyone that needs help will get it, no questions asked.
• 22:07
  We do have some programs, specially federally funded programs,
• 22:11
  that do have income eligibility guidelines.
• 22:15
  So if you qualify for those, you can get your food from those programs.
• 22:18
  But if you don't qualify or you don't want to talk about it, that's okay too.
• 22:21
  We'll make sure you get access to food that you need.
• 22:24
  Yeah.
• 22:24
  Your job, it kind of has this heartbreaking side
• 22:26
  where you talk about these numbers that have gone up,
• 22:28
  you know, the 29% to 34% for keiki, 38% to 45% for caretakers.
• 22:33
  But then you also have this kind of heart filling aspect of it.
• 22:36
  Like you said, the volunteers that make this organization tick.
• 22:39
  So as a member of this community, as a mom,
• 22:43
  how difficult is this work for you personally?
• 22:46
  I would say it's
• 22:48
  it can be really hard, right?
• 22:50
  And like because I feel like I have been so lucky in my life,
• 22:55
  and I've never had to make hard choices about, can I feed my kids?
• 23:00
  And when you and I get to be,
• 23:04
  out on distributions and you get to talk to some of the folks
• 23:08
  who are just working so hard, right, to try to make sure they can put
• 23:12
  food on the table for their families.
• 23:13
  And a lot of times,
• 23:14
  by the time they come to the food bank, they are in a bad place.
• 23:18
  You know, it's hard.
• 23:20
  That's really difficult, I have to say.
• 23:22
  Like, I, if I spend too much time thinking about it, it really
• 23:27
  it I, you know, I might just start crying and then I
• 23:31
  can't continue this conversation. So it is.
• 23:34
  I think it can be. It is hard.
• 23:36
  But on the other hand, how lucky am I to get to be in a place
• 23:42
  where I get to be a part of a solution, right?
• 23:46
  And I can't tell you.
• 23:47
  Just like it is such a beautiful thing
• 23:49
  to see, all of the folks who want to help, right.
• 23:53
  So, you know, I think about the federal government
• 23:55
  shutdown this past fall, all of a sudden, we had, you know, thousands
• 24:00
  and thousands of people who had never many and never had to ask for help before.
• 24:04
  Right. You work a good job. Maybe.
• 24:05
  Mom, both mom and dad might work for the federal government.
• 24:08
  And all of a sudden, you know, you can't make rent and you can't make,
• 24:13
  buy groceries and and really needed help.
• 24:18
  And our phones were ringing off the hook.
• 24:20
  I mean, we actually had to pivot like a whole group of our staff,
• 24:25
  our our development staff that are normally working on, you know, donations.
• 24:30
  We were like,
• 24:31
  okay, put a hold on that right now, and we're going to actually ask you guys
• 24:34
  to answer the phone so we can make sure we can get people connected to resources.
• 24:41
  But I will tell you, for
• 24:42
  like every phone call that we got, someone seeking food assistance, we were getting
• 24:46
  the same number of calls of people saying, how can I help?
• 24:50
  They saw their neighbors hurting and they wanted to help.
• 24:54
  And so,
• 24:56
  it really, you know, every time we have a crisis or,
• 25:01
  you know, we see folks needing assistance,
• 25:07
  I just feel
• 25:07
  really lucky that we live in a place where people take care of each other.
• 25:10
  I don't think every part of the world is like this.
• 25:13
  You know, I think we are.
• 25:15
  I don't know, I never want to take that for granted.
• 25:17
  That we live in a place where somebody needs help.
• 25:20
  There is somebody with it's reaching out a hand to say, okay, I want to help.
• 25:24
  How can I do that?
• 25:25
  And if I can't afford to donate, I want to volunteer.
• 25:29
  I mean, we had volunteers who were in the same, you know, in the same situation.
• 25:34
  They they needed help, but, you know, they had extra time
• 25:37
  because they were furloughed.
• 25:38
  And so they wanted to
• 25:40
  they wanted to make sure that their neighbors,
• 25:42
  their colleagues had access to a safe and healthy food.
• 25:45
  So I would say,
• 25:48
  it can be challenging.
• 25:49
  You know, it can be hard just to when you spend time
• 25:53
  thinking about how difficult it is and it's not right.
• 25:57
  I just don't think,
• 26:00
  I don't think it's right that you can, you know, work
• 26:05
  40 hours a week and maybe you'd be
• 26:08
  working 60 hours a week, and you still,
• 26:12
  can't
• 26:14
  feed your kids, right? Like
• 26:17
  we should live in a place where,
• 26:19
  you know, things like food are, you know, not a question.
• 26:23
  Like, we're not worried about our kids getting enough to eat.
• 26:26
  I just wish that we lived in a time, that this wasn't it.
• 26:31
  We didn't have a job.
• 26:32
  Right?
• 26:33
  Like, I think in the long term, our goal,
• 26:36
  the food bank would be, like, work ourselves out of a job like that.
• 26:39
  Wouldn't that be? That's what we want. I don't,
• 26:44
  I don't
• 26:44
  want to have to share numbers with you that keep on going up.
• 26:48
  Right.
• 26:49
  And that being said,
• 26:51
  I think we also are lucky
• 26:54
  that we get to help people in like,
• 26:57
  a really important and meaningful way so that
• 27:03
  that feels good.
• 27:04
  And you've been in this role for 5 or 6 years.
• 27:07
  Five years. Yeah.
• 27:09
  What inspired you to take on this position?
• 27:13
  You know, I think for me, I've been in the nonprofit space my whole career.
• 27:18
  But working more in kind of the,
• 27:23
  educational science cultural side.
• 27:27
  And I actually
• 27:29
  really starting to feel this is like, in the beginning of the pandemic,
• 27:34
  just seeing how many families were really, really struggling.
• 27:38
  And I wanted to do something that felt more tangible
• 27:43
  and I that could really help more people.
• 27:48
  And this opportunity came along
• 27:51
  and I really felt like, you know, there's,
• 27:56
  there's a lot of it was a really interesting time
• 27:58
  for the food bank because we, you know, the need had skyrocketed.
• 28:02
  It really made us change. A lot of, like,
• 28:06
  I think our own assumptions about the work that we could do,
• 28:10
  understanding, you know, seeing what the need really was.
• 28:13
  How did we shift our own,
• 28:16
  you know, operations and how we sourced food?
• 28:19
  So it gave us it was an interesting time where the food bank had the opportunity
• 28:24
  to, like, start to think a little bit differently about its work.
• 28:27
  And I just really felt like it was something I couldn't really pass up.
• 28:32
  Right.
• 28:32
  The opportunity really help people in this, in this meaningful way.
• 28:36
  Plus, I really like food. So.
• 28:38
  But yeah, super admirable you're taking this on during the pandemic.
• 28:42
  So there's, you know, there's some expectations.
• 28:44
  You know things are tough. People you know are out of work.
• 28:47
  People are stuck at home.
• 28:48
  But the numbers, like you said, continued to go up.
• 28:52
  So was this what you expected it to be?
• 28:55
  You know, I don't know what I expected going in.
• 28:58
  I think I, I really didn't know a lot about the food bank and what it did.
• 29:03
  You know, I was a donor.
• 29:05
  I cared about the food bank.
• 29:07
  But I think I kind of imagined,
• 29:11
  I didn't realize the,
• 29:13
  connections that that organization has into community.
• 29:16
  Right?
• 29:16
  Like we're not doing the distributions ourselves.
• 29:19
  We are working with just this incredible network of agencies
• 29:23
  all around across the island, right, who are doing that hard work
• 29:27
  of getting food into communities.
• 29:29
  So, you know, I don't know if I knew really what to expect.
• 29:33
  And I've just been amazed kind of over and over at
• 29:37
  just the incredible work that's happening across this whole the space,
• 29:43
  I did, you know, when I first
• 29:44
  started, we we did initially start to see the numbers start to tick down.
• 29:48
  And so, you know, it really did feel like we're coming back to some sort of,
• 29:54
  you know, new normal.
• 29:55
  And we spent some time really thinking about it, like, hey, well,
• 29:58
  what's our goal?
• 29:59
  You know, is our goal post
• 30:01
  pandemic to get back to pre-pandemic levels of food insecurity.
• 30:05
  And we talked about it and thought about it.
• 30:08
  And really, you know, kind of where we landed was like, well,
• 30:12
  how many kids are we okay with going to bed hungry at night, you know, is it okay?
• 30:17
  Is it good enough to get back to where we were before the pandemic?
• 30:21
  But I have to tell you, I've never had a conversation with
• 30:24
  somebody asked that question like, oh,
• 30:26
  how many kids are we okay with going to bed hungry at night on this island?
• 30:30
  The answer is always zero, right?
• 30:32
  Like I it's not right. I don't feel like,
• 30:37
  I should be able to sleep at night.
• 30:39
  If we know that there are kids that aren't getting enough food.
• 30:43
  So it gave us a chance to kind of really start to think about what's our goal.
• 30:48
  And our goal is zero, right?
• 30:50
  Like, we got to really work at this.
• 30:54
  So it both allowed us to start to think about, you know, maybe our job
• 30:58
  isn't just to meet the need, but it's also to shorten the line.
• 31:03
  Like what?
• 31:03
  Where where are ways that we can really partner,
• 31:07
  with other organizations, with government, with,
• 31:12
  you know, folks that are doing
• 31:13
  also really important work that might not be food related, but,
• 31:17
  hey, maybe food gets people in the door, but then we can connect them
• 31:21
  with, you know, job training or other or other things that can help.
• 31:26
  So I think it was both
• 31:27
  this idea of like, okay,
• 31:30
  let's, let's really think about what it might take
• 31:32
  to solve hunger and end hunger.
• 31:36
  And then at the same time, we started to see, you know,
• 31:40
  things getting harder or just getting harder for folks to make ends meet.
• 31:43
  And so the numbers started to take back out.
• 31:44
  So, you know, maybe we're a little bit further away
• 31:46
  than where we thought we were, when I first,
• 31:50
  got to the food bank.
• 31:52
  But I think also just seeing,
• 31:56
  as we've had these challenges and whether it's Somalia, wildfires
• 32:00
  or the shutdown or people understanding, like when I go to the grocery store,
• 32:06
  I see how expensive things are getting and and how might that make
• 32:11
  how might that make it that much harder for someone that's already,
• 32:14
  you know, struggling?
• 32:15
  I think bringing attention to it
• 32:17
  and people really seeing that and wanting to be part of the solution,
• 32:21
  I think that's what it's really going to take.
• 32:22
  It's going to take all of us
• 32:24
  working together to say, like, look, this isn't acceptable.
• 32:27
  We're not okay with kids going to bed hungry on this island,
• 32:29
  but we can do something about it.
• 32:30
  We really can. Yeah.
• 32:33
  Yeah, it's really interesting like you mentioned. Right.
• 32:35
  So post-pandemic you have the Maui wildfires.
• 32:37
  You have, you know, no control over the economy.
• 32:39
  So maybe this isn't where you wanted it to be.
• 32:42
  But there's no question that the food bank does
• 32:44
  incredible work and incredibly difficult work.
• 32:48
  I've asked this to several of our city directors
• 32:50
  that I want to pose this question to you, but music has a way of healing.
• 32:54
  Yeah.
• 32:54
  And so for you, is there a song that can help pick you up
• 32:58
  when you're having a rough day that immediately makes things better?
• 33:01
  Oh, man.
• 33:02
  Okay, you don't have to sing it, but you can't not.
• 33:05
  That's not.
• 33:05
  You do not want me to sing it.
• 33:07
  Gosh, that is a good question.
• 33:11
  Well, I'll tell you kind of
• 33:12
  the most recent one, but my kids are me so embarrassed, which is,
• 33:16
  the K-pop Demon Hunters soundtrack.
• 33:19
  I really got my golden gold in that.
• 33:22
  Yeah, that that song can really like.
• 33:24
  I can listen to that and sing to it in the car.
• 33:26
  And my kids are like, mom, it's so embarrassing.
• 33:29
  But yeah.
• 33:30
  Oh, that's that's my answer.
• 33:32
  And you can do it.
• 33:33
  Good choice. Amy, is there anything that we missed?
• 33:36
  I don't think so.
• 33:37
  You know, actually, there is one other thing I'd like to say, which is,
• 33:41
  you know, we talked a little bit about if you want to be part of the solution,
• 33:45
  if you want to help, how you can help.
• 33:46
  And going to the, you know, the food banks website or participating in the city
• 33:51
  Employees Coalition food drive.
• 33:53
  But if you need help,
• 33:56
  we are here for you.
• 33:57
  And I really want to be sure that anyone out there
• 34:00
  who is struggling to put food on the table or worried
• 34:04
  about what I'm going to feed my kids for breakfast tomorrow or dinner,
• 34:08
  please know that you can go to our website to get help, but
• 34:12
  and there is a resource for you in your own community.
• 34:16
  We have literally hundreds of partners, and every day
• 34:21
  there are dozens of distributions taking place across this island.
• 34:24
  And there are people that care about you and want to make sure you're okay.
• 34:28
  So please do not hesitate to to look for help
• 34:31
  because, that's exactly why we're here.
• 34:34
  Amy, thank you so much for your time.
• 34:36
  No problem. Thank you for having me.
• 34:38
  And like she mentioned, you can contribute to this.
• 34:40
  Your city employee food and fund drive.
• 34:42
  You can drop off canned food donations at any Oahu
• 34:46
  satellite city hall or Honolulu Fire station.
• 34:49
  This year's food drive runs until May 8th.
• 34:52
  Mahalo for listening and until next time, Aloha!