COM 0384.000 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

iffloppowi Hawaii Island's FanO auk Final Report Executive Summary The County Council of Hawaii,through two(2)mechanisms, a bill and a Council resolution released $275,000 to The Food Basket, Inc in the amounts of$200,000 and $75,000, respectively. These funds were released with the stipulation that they be used solely for the purpose of purchasing food. Food distribution was left to The Food Basket, Inc.,with the County's permission to charge 18 cents a pound for the storage, handling,and delivery of such items as provided by law. To date, 113,427 lbs. of food have been distributed, and a total of$275,012.33 was spent in food purchases on behalf of the County of Hawaii. This translates into 20,546 people being directly served through either partner agencies or during low-income school deliveries. With many of our citizens served having families,the Agency Background The Food Basket, Inc. (TFBI)is a 501 (c) 3 approved public charity who acts as a wholesaler of food items to partner agencies and also distributes food directly to the needy.. TFBI is the only agency in the County of Hawai'i who meets the extensive criteria necessary to be a recognized food bank. Through two (2) locations, one in East Hawai'i and one in West Hawai'i, TFBI services the entire island of Hawai'i from Kapa'au to Ka'alu'alu. Implementation and Distribution County of Hawaii Emergency Food is being distributed in two(2)ways, direct drops to needy schools, and standard purchase of service through partner agencies. Direct drops were not charged to schools, while partner agencies were charged the standard'18 cents/pound. Product was weighed upon receiving and again upon delivery to reconcile poundage. With such a small staff, The Food Basket relies heavily on volunteer involvement in order to carry out effective public service. Two(2)schools indicated they would be willing to do the necessary paperwork for the COHEF program. TFBI structured drop patterns similar to our Keiki Backpack program. The COHEF grant allowed TFBI to double the number of schools participating to four(4) schools. Schools selected encompassed portions of the districts of South Kona, South Hilo, and Ka'u. TFBI places a priority in serving rural communities where resources and services are scarce. Because of limited staff available for the program,schools were asked to provide volunteers to supervise food deliveries and ensure equity in distribution among children. Schools were selected based upon poverty level as indicated by the utilization of the United States Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program, which generates statistics locally through the Hawaii Department of Education, Office of Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs. As shown in the attached spreadsheet,Kapi'olani Elementary participated for seven(7)months,and received 20,125 lbs. of food. Na'alehu Elementary participated for six(6)months, and received 13,110 lbs. of food. A shorter duration of participation as well as lower enrollment contributed to Na'alehu receiving less food. Because the County allotments are nearly exhausted, TFBI decided not to renew schools on the COHEF program, as TFBI could not fulfill an entire year's worth of deliveries with the remaining COHEF food. For agency partners,the process remained much the same as TFBI's standard warehousing and distribution programs. Unlike donated commodity or USDA food material, COHEF products were ordered ahead of time to align with the County guidelines on liquidation of funds for the fiscal year. 2