The Hawaiʻi Foodbank is set to receive $5.5 million from the state Legislature's grant program for nonprofits impacted by federal funding cuts.
The money comes from Act 310, a measure passed this year allocating $50 million in relief for qualifying Hawaiʻi nonprofits.
Lawmakers announced Thursday the list of nearly 100 organizations that will receive a chunk of the funding, based on how much each lost due to federal cuts.
In the selection committee, lawmakers said many of the organizations that received money are safety nets that communities across the state rely on.
Elia Herman, the Hawaiʻi Foodbank’s director of advocacy, said the funding is crucial for the health and stability of Hawaiʻi communities.
“This amount of money is helping to make us whole — to continue to serve people,” Herman said. “But we also know this is a one-time thing, so as need continues to increase, and we know that it will with cost of living and with SNAP cuts, we need to find other ways to continue to make our community whole.”
Herman said the organization will start using the funds to build up the quality and quantity of available products, including reprioritizing healthy and locally sourced foods — an initiative that had to be sacrificed to keep up with demand over the past few months.
Just over 80% of the food bank’s purchasing budget goes toward local sourcing, but local foods make up less than half of the food distributed.
Herman added that the demand on the food bank due to the government shutdown was heightened by the funding cuts to food banks across the country earlier this year.
“This funding was to address all of the federal cuts that happened before the cuts came into play in July, before the federal shutdown, before households in Hawaiʻi lost 2% of their SNAP allotment,” Herman said.
“This shutdown showed you how many people are just living on the edge, even the people who you think would be stable with this sort of thing."
Hawaiʻi Foodbank’s partner agencies were also on the list of grant recipients, with Maui Food Bank receiving nearly $900,000 and The Food Basket on Hawaiʻi Island receiving over $1 million.
Local food banks and further resources:
- Oʻahu and Kauaʻi: Hawaiʻi Foodbank
- Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi: Maui Food Bank
- Hawaiʻi Island: The Food Basket
- Hawaiʻi SNAP Outreach Providers
- Aloha United Way 2-1-1
Editor's note: Hawaiʻi Public Radio received about $500,000 from the $50 million state program for nonprofits affected by federal funding cuts. HPR was previously allocated this amount from the now-defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
