Kaʻū News Briefs June 19, 2024

Deisha Davis checks in the recipient family for Kaukau 4 Keiki as Krystal Eder loads the food and
Glenn Okumura and Tina Eder prepare for the next group at Pāhala Hongwanji. Photo by Julia Neal

 
KAUKAU 4 KEIKI'S FIRST DAY OF FOOD GIVEAWAYS launched at Volcano, Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on Wednesday with Ocean View beginning on Thursday.
      Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary School is running the Pāhala operation this year, led by Deisha Davis, with help from community volunteers. On Wednesday, Football Coach Conner Norton and players Zylin Loftus, Sefefano Aina, Dayton Keohuloa and Jeremy Felipe helped with the unloading of the trucks bringing food to Pāhala Hongwanji. Also helping were volunteers Glenn Okumura, Tina Eder, Krystal Eder, Chrysa Dacalio. Bridgette Kaleohano and Julia Neal. Also helping was a leader for a Wilderness Adventure group of high school girls who are learning and volunteering in Kaʻū this week.
    Fresh foods given out included apples, bananas, keiki greens, lettuce, carrots and celery. There is fresh frozen poi, when can be finished off in a microwave. Proteins include canned salmon, tuna, peanut butter and milk. Carbs included whole wheat bread and oatmeal.

A long lineup of cars from families of many incomes came for the free Kaukau 4 Keiki food on Wednesday.
Photo by Julia Neal

    The offerings are designed to give keiki seven days of food for six weeks during the school break, as many students depend on school for daily nutrition. Kaukau 4 Keiki significantly increased the number of families served this summer over the number last year.
    Vibrant Hawai'i administers the Kaukau 4 Keiki program for the U.S. Department of Agriculture across the island for 5,000 recipients at 32 locations. All recipients registered ahead of time. Pickup times are  Wednesdays at Volcano School of the Arts & Sciences from noon to 3:30 p.m., at Pāhala Hongwanji from noon to 12:30 p.m., and at Nāʻālehu Resilience Hub from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The free food pick up at Ocean View is at St. Jude's Church on Thursdays from 11 a.m to 1 p.m.
    There is no selection of individual families by need. All of Kaʻū is considered low income and has free meals for all students during the school year. According to USDA guidelines, any family getting free meals when school is in session can apply to sign up for Kaukau 4 Keiki unless getting free USDA meals elsewhere during the summer break.
    Families who miss any two pick up days during the summer program will have their names removed and their food given to families on the waitlist. Those who don't arrive during the pickup time will also have their food given to families on the waitlist.
    The online application requires families to agree to "not receive summer meals from another USDA Summer Meal program, such as Summer Fun or DOE meal sites; this is considered 'double dipping' and is against USDA rules and regulations."

 Wilderness Adventures volunteers, under
the direction of Bert and Tina Eder, pull invasive
glycine vines that were killing Norfolk pine trees
at the entrance to Pāhala. Photo by Julia Neal

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GLYCINE VINES CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS KAʻŪ, KILLING TREES and taking over other vegetation and even out buildings on open land. The invasive plant was brought in for cattle feed. 

     Wilderness Adventures, an entity founded in 1973 for students through high school to make friends, explore wilderness and participate in community service, took on the glycine in Pāhala on Wednesday during their Hawai'i Explorer program. The volunteer group of nine girls and three leaders came from around the country. See Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based Wilderness Adventures at www.wildernessadventures.com. 

    Their volunteers worked on pulling the vines from the iconic Norfolk pine trees that line the Maile Street entrance to Pāhala. The trees have recently been climbed by glycine vines, which have killed many branches. Earlier volunteer groups pulled down vines and uprooted them, but new beds of glycine are growing again and starting to climb the trees.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com. Support this news service with advertising at kaunews.com. 7,500 copies in the mail and on stands.

KAʻŪ COFFEE GROWERS, FARMERS & RANCHERS RESOURCE WORKSHOP, sponsored by U.S. Department of Agriculture, is this Friday, June 21, 3 p,m. to 5 p.m. at Pāhala Community Center. USDA invites coffee growers and other agricultural producers to learn about USDA programs and practices at the free session. Spanish translation will be provided. Pāhala Community Center is at 96-1149 Kamani St.

A FREE INDEPENDENCE DAY BREAKFAST has been announced for 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., June 29 at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 95-5682 Mamalahoa Highway, Na'alehu 96772.  "We're celebrating before the Na'alehu Independence Day Parade starts at 11 a.m. No free lunch, but yes free breakfast!" said the notice from William Vogeler.