Workroom

This is what about 25 volunteers see each week as they come in to sort incoming food, repack some items, and prepare basic bags of food for our Foodbank guests.

This is the main aisle connecting storage areas to the greeting room for our guests. The area to the right is used to assemble bags for families. Instructions on what to put in them for families of different sizes and composition, are posted on the wall to the left.

One of our storage aisles for everything from canned goods to candies. We're using discarded bookcases, metal cabinets and shelving (appropriately secured) to store most things. Before the Foodbank, the whole area was used mostly to store discarded equipment. Do you have a room like that in your church building, which could be used to a better purpose?

Another aisle, this one containing rice, cookies, and other drygoods. Note the air conditioning unit; everything has to be kept cool to control bugs. We use water cooled units to save electricity. Total cost to the church for all the electricity used for refrigerators, freezers, light and air conditioning is around $3,000 annually. Everything else is supplied by grants, private donations and volunteers. We never imagined we could meet the needs of over 600 people a month. We're a "small" church (about 300 members half of whom are Tongan). As usual, the Lord invited us to think outside our box. Carmen and Lissi and Ann did and inspired the rest of us.

The reception area where our volunteers greet our guests and try to serve their food needs. There is a counter on the left which you can't see. Next to it are the card files we use to track our guests. They can come at most once a month, as we are not a maintenance facility, but we do provide lists of other churches which also give food.

This year we bagan providing food for another First Friendship House program, which cooks, delivers, and serves hot meals free of charge four times a week. The cooking is done in the large First United Methodist Church kitchen, mostly by homeless people (some who are members of our church). The meals are served in several areas (parks and beaches) where many homeless usually congregate. This program, begun by Utuloa Langi, is call H-5, Hawaii Helping the Hungry Have Hope. Information about the H-5 meal times and locations is distributed in our Foodbank. You can find out more about it at 808-522-9565, our First Friendship House Preschool office (Utu's wife is its office manager).

Our guests wait here patiently. Sometimes 20 people are sitting in this room with only fans for air conditioning. It costs $3,000 for each water cooled A/C unit to be bought and installed. We're hoping to get a grant to expand the facility somewhat, get a decent freight elevator, and upgrade our refrigeration and freezer units. Total cost, around half a million dollars. (We're thinking so far out of the box we can't see it anymore.) We're like that slave that was given 5 talents (a unit of currency) I guess.... Come visit us sometime, and help out. Call 522-9555 and make a connection. Learn how your church can do this, too.

The FUMC Foodbank Volunteers
Work area: Arco, Belinda, Becky, Bill, Carolyn, Chester, Conrad, Eddy, Erin, Fung, Gerry, Joyce, Lindsey, Lissi, Pat, and Pat S.
Reception area: Betsy, Carol, Cleon, Lissi, Lori
Shoppers/Haulers: Dave, Dick, Fred, Lissi, Ray, Susan, Utu
Wherever needed: Lissi and Dick