Hawaii s Food Hubs Find Strength In Numbers - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii’s Food Hubs Find Strength In Numbers
A group of food hubs came together to support legislation that would win them new access to grant money. The bill failed, but the networking is paying off. Reading time: 7 minutes.
A bright spot in the COVID-19 pandemic has been how the virus catapulted Hawaii food hubs to popularity.
Now food hubs statewide are collaborating to help each other grow successfully, sharing resources, advice, gripes, grant money opportunities and, of course, food. They’re trying to build capacity to meet the growing demands of businesses, institutions and families that want customized orders of locally grown food.
For nonprofits providing social services, government reimbursement can be a major source of funding.
Whether it’s placing homeless people in shelters or providing health care to underserved communities, such nonprofits are often doing work under state or federal grants.
As of 2019, federal grants alone put $482 million into Hawaii’s nonprofit sector.
Neighbor Island nonprofits said a challenge has been that the federal government has been very slow to pay, just as they’ve become busier than ever.
For example, Hope Services Hawaii on Hawaii Island doubled its workforce from 65 to 125 to meet new, increased needs for food distribution and homelessness due to the COVID-19 economy.
Heightened Financial Challenges for Neighbor Island Nonprofits hpr2.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hpr2.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Skip to main content
Currently Reading
How Hawaii is trying to save Haena State Park, a Kauai tourist hotspot that s been loved to death
Michele Bigley
FacebookTwitterEmail
Loved to death: Haena State Park is a popular destination for many visitors.Getty Images
It used to be her favorite beach on the North Shore of Kauai, but Mehana Blaich Vaughan hated taking her children to over-touristed Haena State Park. Like many Hawaiian families from the Hanalei region, she never imagined she could show her kids the Ke’e Beach of her childhood a sacred swath of white sand abundant with humuhumunukunukuapuaa, the Hawaiian state fish, with “crystal clean water and no cigarette butts in the sand.”