It\u2019s 1 p.m. on a Wednesday, which means there are around six\u00a0<\/strong>students in the back room of the Kikaha o Lae\u02bbahi Center in \u02bbIliahi unpacking dozens of boxes of food for Thursday\u2019s community food pantry. Student support specialist Colette \u201cCoco\u201d Andrade-Fujii organizes the weekly event. For the first food pantry of the semester on Sept. 12, she picked up over 3,000 pounds of food from Hawai\u02bbi Food Bank, packing two large vans full.<\/p>\n Food insecurity among students has become a reality illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the rising cost of food. The Hawai\u02bbi Food Bank found, with a study it commissioned last year called \u201cThe State of Food Insecurity in Hawai\u2018i<\/a>,” that 44% of college students don\u2019t have enough to eat, and Hawai\u02bbi Food Bank\u2019s annual report<\/a> reported last year\u00a0that grocery prices in Hawai\u02bbi have gone up 25% in the last three years.<\/p>\n To support students, Kapi\u02bbolani Community College (KCC) has partnered with Hawai\u02bbi Food Bank and Waik\u012bk\u012b Community Center to offer a student snack shop and weekly community food pantry at no cost with zero application requirements. The Pohukaina Food Pantry is open during fall and spring semesters every Thursday 2-5 p.m. (except on holidays). To sign up, you can register here<\/a> or scan the QR codes located at the front door of the Kikaha o Lae\u02bbahi Center and on campus TV monitors. If you forget to sign up in advance, you can do it at the door when you arrive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that basic needs in a college setting is huge,\u201d Andrade-Fujii said. \u201cStudents are coming from all over the world. Some of them don\u2019t have anybody here. How can we make them feel at home \u2026 We know that they\u2019re hungry. How can we help that?\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns about students getting enough food arose in 2016 when director of Lunalilo Scholars Program LaVache Scanlan and Andrade-Fujii noticed the scholars were not eating. Wanting to ensure the scholars had the brain power they needed to retain information and excel at their studies, Scanlan and Andrade-Fujii\u00a0<\/strong>began efforts to bring a food pantry \u2013 a site that distributes food and goods to those in need who reside in a specified area \u2013 to KCC.<\/p>\n Andrade-Fujii said it took four years to get Pohukaina Food Pantry up and running. The first pantry opened in January 2020 only to be hit by the pandemic two months later. Undeterred, she helped organize weekly drive-through food pick-ups \u00a0in the KCC parking lot until the school reopened and they could move operations back inside.<\/p>\n Food and other household items like toilet paper mostly come from Hawai\u2019i Food Bank. Aloha Harvest<\/a>, a 501(3)(c) nonprofit organization that rescues food waste to distribute to people in need, drops food off to the pantry on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. On these days, people have an additional selection of items to choose from.<\/p>\n Food items are mostly non-perishable ranging from canned vegetables to tomato sauce and grab-and-go snacks such as Triscuit crackers, Chex Mix and almonds. Frozen foods like pizza, hot dogs and meat and fresh produce are also available on occasion. (Photo by Sarah Burchard)<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real nice feeling when you see your community come out,\u201d Andrade-Fujii said. \u201cAnd you know, [there’s] no judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrade-Fujii said she\u00a0has served everyone from the person who arrived in a fancy car to a houseless person off the street. Everyone is welcome, they just have to register at the door.<\/p>\n The snack shop came about when Student Congress was fighting to open a store on campus. Andrade-Fujii suggested they open a snack shop inside the Pohukaina Food Pantry instead of starting a business. The students would avoid having to attain special permits and insurance while simultaneously luring students who felt a stigma toward the pantry in with free snacks. All students have to do is register once using the QR code located at the front door of the Kikaha o Lae\u02bbahi Center or on campus TV monitors and they’ll receive a $10 voucher to use in the shop every week, Monday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cComing through my snack shop is a way for [students] to come and secretly go shopping for the pantry without their friends knowing,\u201d Andrade-Fujii said.<\/p>\n KCC also partnered with Aloha Diaper Bank<\/a>. With this program, KCC students, who are parents, can submit their information and schedule a pick-up for up to 50 diapers at a time.<\/p>\n The Kikaha o Lae\u02bbahi Center, where the pantry and snack shop are located,\u00a0is\u00a0a refuge for students. Here, students can find computers to use, hot coffee and even blankets if they are cold. There is a microwave, sink, hot water and dishes and cups available, so they can eat while they study. Andrade-Fujii gives full credit to Scanlan for her vision and to her peers and student workers for helping her maintain all the center\u2019s offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to help everybody out,\u201d she said. \u201cBut just having the students, here my heart is full. My heart is really really full, and I know I\u2019m keeping them here. I\u2019m keeping them in college one step toward their goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Pohukaina Food Pantry![\"Pohukaina](\"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/food_pantry_5-1024x768.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>Walk-in shopping & snack shop for KCC Students
\n<\/span>Hours:<\/strong> Monday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
\n<\/span>Registration link:\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/go.hawaii.edu\/yBv<\/a><\/p>\n