Volunteers needed for food distributions at UH West Oʻahu campus this summer and fall

A message from Manu Aluli Meyer, Kūlana o Kapolei, UH West Oʻahu:

Aloha UH West Oʻahu ʻOhana,

We have an opportunity to step toward our beloved community this summer and fall to assist with giving food to those in need. This pandemic is not over for many of our families. Please, if you, your students, or your ʻohana (must be teenagers or older) would like to Give Your Aloha and pass out food to our West Oʻahu families, we need volunteers!

We will be meeting the following five Saturdays at 6 a.m. to distribute food from our UH West Oʻahu campus parking lot. Mahalo to our Chancellor Maenette Benham, Dr. Loke Kenolio, Rouel Velasco, along with our FSE Team: Lynn Reyes and Malia Cook, for their work on this Food Bank Distribution. Traffic will be directed by Community Volunteers and Special Duty Police Officers. Please anticipate congestion and delays between the hours of 4:30 and 10 a.m.

Saturday dates at UH West Oʻahu:

July 10
Aug. 7
Sept. 11
Oct. 9
Nov. 6

HOW TO PREPARE TO DISTRIBUTE FOOD ON UH WEST OʻAHU CAMPUS:

1. Sign up with Aunty Manu by letting her know that you, your students, or your family are interested. E-mail: manulani@hawaii.edu.

2. Take the Civil Rights Training offered by the Hawaii Food Bank.

The civil rights training is now available for streaming and can be accessed through this link. For your convenience, the link will always be available through our Agency Portal at www.hawaiifoodbank.org/agency-portal/. This recorded training should assist you in providing the required training to new staff and volunteers prior to their assisting with your food distributions. Please remember to have your staff and volunteers sign the attached Civil Rights Training Log after they’ve watched the video.

3. Come that morning wearing a RED T-shirt. Make sure you wear covered shoes (tennis shoes, etc.), tie back your hair, and wear a baseball hat (for sun).

You will need to come early (by 6 a.m.) because it’s summer and the Food Bank trucks arrive early to deliver food items because of the heat of the day. We then will package them and prepare to give out to families waiting in their cars. There are usually 200-400 cars, so the distribution will begin most likely around 7:30 a.m. There will be portable bathrooms available and lots of water. Please come ready to work with intention and aloha.

We are looking forward to serving our community in this way and appreciate your kōkua.

Feel free to give out to your summer students as we are hoping to encourage Pueo Pride, especially in those incoming freshmen from around our West Side.