Food for thought: how to help the community

Front row, from left to right: Kennedy Annereau, Zoey Ozoa, Mailia George, Dekoda Rendon and Preston Vila. Back row: Sandy Patterson.

According to the Maui Food Bank, a recent study commissioned by the Hawaii State Department of Health found that one in five children in Maui County are at risk of going hungry. It’s a serious issue and one that a group of driven fourth graders at Lanai High & Elementary School decided to address when asked, “How can we help our community of Lanai?”

That’s the question fourth grade teacher Sandy Patterson posed to her class after they finished a discussion about amazing children around the world who started projects to help others. The class formed four groups and brainstormed projects they’d want to start to help their community. One group focused on reducing the amount of trash in the community, another explored ways to get kids to eat healthier, and the third dedicated themselves to taking action against vaping. For Kennedy Annereau and her team comprised of Zoey Ozoa, Mailia George, Dekoda Rendon, and Preston Vila, it was all about helping the hungry children of Lanai.

“We don’t want anybody to go to bed hungry,” says Mailia George. Kennedy Annereau agreed, adding, “People deserve to have food.”

Annereau was inspired to tackle the issue after seeing a YouTube video the week before. The subject of the video shared his cereal with a few starving children, saying, “I don’t like seeing people hungry.” The video resonated with the fourth grader and spurred her to conduct her own research, which is when she learned about Maui County’s food insecurity issues.

The Hunger Games, as the fourth-grade group had begun calling themselves, talked to Divina Costales and decided to host a K-5 food drive in partnership with Sacred Hearts Lanai Food Pantry. The students then took on the monumental task of making their dream a reality, from coordinating with the principal, the food bank manager and K-5 teachers to designing a poster to raise awareness. They also put together, rehearsed and announced the food drive in a presentation to the K-5 students. Prizes were promised to the classes that raised the most donations during the drive.

The K-5 food drive ran from Tuesday, March 28 through Thursday, April 7. With the help of the LHES students and members of the community, Annereau’s team was able to collect 801 food items, which included canned goods, rice and other nonperishables. Ms. Montgomery’s fifth graders won the first place prize, collecting 120 food items. The Hunger Games also awarded prizes for second, third and fourth place.

“This entire class of 4th graders have been amazing and have displayed so much leadership and empathy throughout this project,” says Sandy Patterson. “I am so proud of all the teams, and especially the Hunger Games Team led by Kennedy Annereau. They all worked together to solve the many hoops they had to jump through to reach the end.”

Kennedy Annereau (left) and Mailia George (right) help deliver donated food items to the Sacred Hearts Lanai Food Pantry.

All donations were dropped off at Sacred Hearts Lāna‘i Food Pantry which provides food service for those in need every third Friday of the month from 3-5 p.m. Rice and monetary donations are needed the most. Volunteers are also welcome to help distribute food to those who can’t drive.

For more information about the food pantry, visit sacredheartslanai.org/food-bank-pantry.