Tita Kaiwi
Tita Kaiwi
Photo: Cadencia Photography
“I'm grateful to see the community rise up. They're mobilizing to take care of each other.”
Tita Kaiwi is the Agency Director of Maui Food Bank. Over 10,000 people in Maui County do not know where their next meal is coming from. The Maui Food Bank is Maui’s primary safety net for providing hunger relief. The non-profit collects and distributes food to organizations that offer nutrition to those in need. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here. Each dollar contributed is matched by Maui County.
We caught up with Tita on May 19, 2020.
How are you?
Good. It just feels like we haven’t had a moment to stop and think. Things are just go, go, go. As you know, like so many organizations, we are working overtime. It’s been really good. I'm just thankful for the work that everyone's doing. We're seeing our needs clearly in this time.
What changes have you made to adapt to our current situation?
When COVID-19 became a concern, our focus shifted to volunteer safety and overall agency safety. There have been a lot of regulations changing, a lot of concern in our agencies as to whether they should continue distribution. So in that first two weeks or so, it was very unnerving. There were thoughts that we may have to close distribution. Over time it became clear that there are safety measures we can take to keep ourselves and our recipients safe. So we have made those changes. That is why we started drive-by distribution and “drop and go” home deliveries. We have had to waive lots of requirements, like signing in. There is no need to sign in now. It has really made distribution, in some ways, less time-consuming. Yet the need has more than doubled for many of the distribution centers. We have been in constant communication with agencies and organizations. We’ve been posting on our website where people can go for food, which we didn't have in place before, because we would want them to call us. Because of the amount of calls we were getting, we had to adjust in this way. Everybody needs to know where they can go to get food.
We have also had lots of donors wanting to start distribution. As of now, it seems like our agencies have gotten into a new routine. They have a system for distribution. So a lot of my time was spent communicating with new organizations and donors that want to know [how they can support us].
“The biggest issue we've been having is getting enough food in.”
Thankfully Sun Fresh and Kula Produce are making produce bags for us. In the past, that's something that we were doing in house. We would use volunteers to do all of that work. Now, because of the high demand, they're putting together these produce boxes for us, so it goes straight to distribution.
What food system vulnerabilities have been exposed in this crisis?
This whole time the biggest issue we've been having is getting enough food in. Despite all that is going on, the biggest issue has always been food. Immediately when this happened, for our vendors, our distributors on the mainland, the demand became crazy. We couldn't expect food to come in for a couple of weeks. So we have almost depleted everything we had. We weren't able to get food from Costco. Our food donations decreased drastically because people were fearful about giving; they wanted to stock up for themselves. I think people are coming around just this week. They wanted to start doing food drives again.
“We couldn't expect food to come in for a couple of weeks. So we have almost depleted everything we had.”
There are hundreds of people out of work right now. They're on unemployment, but they haven't gotten their checks. Their kids are out of school and they're not getting fed. We did get an increase, like a surplus of donations from all the hotels. That was great for about two weeks or so. I was really happy that the clients we serve were getting the best food, because they're the ones who need it most. Then the food drives stopped happening. So we're not getting as much food from the community. We do get food from the USDA, and their demand was high as well. Maui Food Bank was not necessarily a priority, so there was a long delay of getting in USDA commodities. The only thing we could really do is purchase, so that's what we started doing. However, the shortage of food across the nation also made that challenging. Furthermore, we won't see that food for three weeks to two months out. We are trying to purchase what we can here, but local grocery stores are not able to fill our orders either, because the demand from the community is so high.
“…food donations decreased drastically because people were fearful…”
Are there changes occurring now that you want to see remain in place once COVID19 is over?
We are buying more local food. The only [challenge] is that a majority of it is produce. That is not a problem, but we also need non-perishable items, shelf-stable items, and more meat. We are so thankful that we have those items locally, just not in the quantities that we need. It's very limited. So we are in a place where I think the whole community is. We’ve just been going with the system as we know it for so long, and it was working okay — until this happened. This has really brought to light all the flaws in our food system. It is inadequate. Hopefully most people will want to restructure [the system], because if we had this in place years in advance, then we might have the supply we need.
“We’ve just been going with the system as we know it for so long, and it's been working okay — until this happened.”
For food banking, one of the major vulnerabilities is having shelf-stable food, whatever that looks like: dried, canned, bagged, some kind of packaging. Not all of the families and individuals that we serve have cooking facilities; some are homeless. We also don't have the capacity to store perishable food and distribute it within the time that we need to. Produce is amazing. We're so grateful for the produce we've been getting in, but we also need meat, and there's a shortage of meat right now.
I would like to see us continue working with local farmers and local companies. Any local partnerships, we want to keep fostering those relationships and supporting them where we can. We are reaching out, we're making these new connections, and we’re starting to make new partnerships.
How do you see this crisis being described in the history books of the future?
It is a worldwide crisis, but I am grateful that it's bringing to light these areas that need restructuring and fixing. Now, how will it be described in history books? Well, while these are very unfortunate circumstances, I'm grateful to see the community rising up. They're mobilizing to take care of each other. I'm grateful, especially in Hawaii, to get to see that. We do have the knowledge and the resources to make this work for everyone's benefit. I am hopeful that we will see some positive changes through this experience, and hopefully everyone will come out better together through this.
“It is a worldwide crisis, but I am grateful that it's bringing to light these areas that need restructuring and fixing.”
What do you want the community to know in order to help?
If you're thinking about donation, just give what you can. If it's monetary, if it's food, or if it's something you're growing in your backyard, we’ll take it. We're happy to take any produce from the community. If they have eggs, fruit, vegetables, they're welcome to bring that in. If it's lending a hand with a distribution or volunteer work, we're always so grateful. I think everyone is looking for a way to help, which is so awesome to see. I'm so blessed. Just helping out where you can, doing what you can. Not everyone can donate tons of money. Not everyone is able to purchase that much food, but maybe they can help out a distribution, or deliver a meal to a family in need. We're just asking people to help where they can.
“We're just asking people to help where they can.”
Who are your local food heroes?
On the ground work level, I really won't specify anyone. Our organizations, our agencies, the way that they've gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the community is incredible. I'm blessed to be working with them. There are people like Harmony, who is mobilizing the community on Moloka’i. I know a number of people like that. Hawai’i Food Bank, Kristen at the Kohala Center... A lot of people from different islands are trying to make connections for us here to help us out.
I think our people need the best food, and we want to support everyone -- not just our clients, but the farmers and ranchers, people that we can work with here in our community. That is the bigger picture. We're still working towards that, and hopefully after this situation, we can see a little more of that happening in our future.
