Creating
CHANGE For All… And for always
Rising to the Challenge With schools closed and many businesses on pause in the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Chad Cabral of the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island knew that their youth members would need access to food—and quickly. Seemingly overnight, the Hawai‘i Island Boys and Girls Club meal delivery program was born. In just two weeks, the Community Meal Support Initiative has ensured that up to 800 free meals per day are cooked and delivered to people across Hawai‘i Island—from Hilo to Kona—and to the many communities inbetween.
says Cabral. “The health crisis has turned into an economic crisis, and Hawai‘i Island will have a long recovery period. We are making plans for our Club to continue providing and delivering meals even post-COVID. We’ll just keep going until no can.” Working together to remain sustainable in the face of such a monumental task, Cabral is partnering with other nonprofits to assist with food delivery, and working with hotels and restaurants to capture unused ingredients. A recent grant from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Hawai‘i Island Strong Fund, and an additional $25,000 grant from HCF’s Kuki‘o Community Fund is helping the Club to deploy these resources.
“We’ve quickly transitioned from youth “Support and partnership from specialists to cooks, the community is what gets us packagers and transporters,”
through the day,” says Cabral. “Our staff could have easily said, ‘This pandemic is too scary, and we don’t want to work.’ But instead, they are putting in long hours, and they tell me, ‘We’re in for the long haul’ because they know it’s our keiki, our kupuna, our ‘ohana who need our help.”
DID YOU KNOW:
The Hawai‘i Island Strong Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation was created to build community resiliency through providing disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This fund, combined with grants from the statewide Hawai‘i Resilience Fund at HCF, currently deploys resources to community nonprofits and health care providers who are working on the ground to address the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To support our communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic, visit HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org/coronavirus