A Kauai nonprofit has received more than 50% of the funding it needs to build the island’s first food hub, according to a press release. 

What You Need To Know

  • The nonprofit Malama Kauai has raised 68% of the $3.2 million it needs to build the island’s first food hub

  • In partnership with Moloaa Irrigation Cooperative, which includes 70 small food producers, the food hub will act as a facilitator between farmers and buyers by offering production, distribution and marketing guidance and services

  • Malama Kauai also purchases food from local farmers and distributes it to Kauai residents, and the new food hub will help increase its efforts

  • To donate online, visit MalamaKauai.org

Malama Kauai, a nonprofit, hopes to raise more funding for the Moloaa Aina Center, a two-story facility that will serve as a facilitator between farmers and buyers by offering production, distribution and marketing guidance and services. It will include a technical assistance center, a post-harvesting processing facility with walk-in cold storage and a commercial kitchen. 

The food hub will be located in Moloaa on Kauai’s northeast shore. It will cost $3.2 million to build and construction has already begun. Malama Kauai hopes to complete the construction by June 2023. After that, solar power and processing equipment will be added to the building. 

The food hub will be utilized by Moloaa Irrigation Cooperative, which includes 70 small food producers. 

Malama Kauai also purchases food from local farmers and distributes it to Kauai residents, and the new food hub will help increase its efforts.  

Along with free food distributions, Malama Kauai offers a $5 grocery delivery service. Customers can use benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy the online groceries. 

“When you see how helpful our services are to kupuna (older adults) who have a hard time going shopping, or a one-car household that has difficulty getting to a farmers market, that’s where the magic is,” Megan Fox, the executive director of Malama Kauai, said in the news release. “Bridging the gap of affordability and convenience of local food for people who need it the most, so that we can all support our local food system.”

Malama Kauai has collected money for 68% of the project. Financial support comes from the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture through funding from the state legislature for the Grow Hawaii Agriculture Initiative in 2021. Other donors include the State of Hawaii Office of Community Services, the Chan Zuckerberg Kauai Community Fund, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Stupski Foundation, the Ceres Trust, the Freeman Family Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation and hundreds of smaller donors. 

“It is exciting to see how far we’ve come and take a moment to celebrate, however, we still have a way to go to get this off the ground,” Rose Hayes, the project manager of the Moloaa Aina Center, said in a news release. “This is our first big capital campaign as a small nonprofit, and securing funding for construction has been difficult, especially with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel really honored to have so many people share our vision for a sustainable Kauai that supports its farmers and feeds itself.”

Anyone interested in donating to the effort can do so online at MalamaKauai.org, by phone at 808-828-0685 x13 and by mail at Malama Kauai, P.O. Box 1414, Kilauea, HI 96754. Buying locally sourced groceries at KauaiLocalFood.com will also go toward supporting the food hub.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.