KAILUA-KONA — It took just 15 days for Cyanotech’s 100 employees to contribute a quarter ton of nonperishable food to help community members in need put a meal on the table this holiday season.
The 525 pounds of food, which for the most part consisted of healthy proteins like chicken, beans and tuna, as well as some spirulina and other goodies, will be split among Auntie’s Angels and The Food Basket, which is Hawaii Island’s lone food bank, said Cyanotech’s Quality Control Manager Sherri Chatham, who coordinated the first-ever event at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority-based business.
“It’s really good to have our employees contributing and giving back to the community for the less fortunate,” said Chatham. “I’m hoping it’s going to bring nutrition and happiness to the families that the food goes to. This was really awesome for the amount of people we have here.”
For Steve Petnumkeo, a lab quality technician, it was about just being able to give to others in need during the food drive, which ran Dec. 2 through Wednesday.
“When families don’t have (much), unfortunately, the kids pay for it,” he said. “It’s very nice to give back.”
Auntie’s Angels is a nonprofit that has served for about four years now low-income seniors living at Hualalai Elderly Housing in Kailua-Kona via programs like the monthly Soup Kitchen ‘n Pantry. Jan Benlein, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the food will help make residents’ fixed monthly budgets go further, particularly around the holidays.
“We have 96 doors here and we serve about 70 percent of the seniors,” Benlein said. “Wow! That’s amazing. God bless those people. What a gift at Christmas.”
Miranda Watson, a human resources worker at Cyanotech, went out of her way to find items for people with dietary restrictions, like celiac disease, a hereditary digestive disorder involving intolerance to gluten.
“I know how hard and expensive those products can be,” she said. “I can’t imagine how hard it would be. I hope it shows them that Cyanotech cares.”
The Food Basket assists more than 7,500 families islandwide each month via agencies like the Salvation Army. West Hawaii Today was unable to reach Kona Warehouse Manager Marshall Akamu or Executive Director En Young for comment on the donation as of press time on Thursday.
The Hawaii Food Basket, according to its most recent newsletter, says it provides around 53,000 meals each month. During 2014, it provided 3.3 million pounds of food assistance via its partner agencies.
In addition to the donation from Cyanotech on Thursday, the fourth annual Menehune Holiday Food Drive, which was held Saturday at various locations in West Hawaii, as well as during the annual Kailua-Kona Christmas Parade, raised more than $11,000 and collected more than 3,000 pounds of food to support The Food Basket, said Barbara Kossow, vice chairwoman of the parade association.
