Beach Outreach a huge success

In March 2024, Ho`okipa Kauai began supporting a unique Beach Outreach Program

operated by a previously homeless family that was delivering food out of the trunk of

their car to homeless encampments in the Lihue area. We expanded the program to

include personal hygiene items and survival supplies, like tarps, batteries, can openers

and tents, and provided them with a pick-up truck, an enclosed trailer, coolers and

shelving to support the effort.

They have since expanded their outreach to serve homeless camps all over the island,

plus food insecure families living in subsidized and elderly housing, delivering whole

pallets of free food and needed supplies to the areas where our most vulnerable

neighbors can be found. In the first 27 weeks since we acquired the truck in April 2025,

Beach Outreach delivered food to 122 separate locations (averaging 4.5 distributions a

week), serving 4337 individuals and families (averaging 160 clients a week), and they

are not slowing down. With Beach Outreach added to the four fixed site distributions,

we are now distributing food to well over 450 household units EVERY WEEK.

Please help us in this effort. Unstable federal food-aid and monetary assistance

programs have left disadvantaged Americans more unsecure than ever. Increased

participation at our food pantries requires more money to buy fresh food to supplement

what is available at the food banks. Our distributions are increasing at the same time

granting entities are being asked to spread their funding to support nonprofits that have

lost federal funding, in addition to entities they have traditionally supported.