By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau

EWA BEACH, Oahu (Eagle News) — Aloha Harvest, a nonprofit organization based in Honolulu, teamed up with the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in its latest Aid to Humanity charity effort at the INC’s chapel property in Ewa Beach in West Oahu on Sunday, August 25, 2019.

During the program, event organizer Harry Alonso said Aloha Harvest rescues quality, donated food and delivers it free of charge to social service agencies feeding hungry people all over Hawai‘i. He added that Aloha Harvest currently serves over 175 social services on Oahu Island alone. Harry later introduced Debra Van Zine, a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Upon receiving a certificate of appreciation from Church leaders led by Hawai’i-Pacific Supervising Minister Brother Marcel Ramirez, Van Zine said that the donations demonstrated
“such a testament to the community you have here, to just give from the heart.  This food is definitely well-needed and much appreciated.”

During an interview with Eagle News, Van Zine recounted Aloha Harvest’s recent experience during last year’s series of natural calamities within the Aloha State. She said that the events definitely posed a different set of circumstances, upon which the nonprofit was able to learn to react quickly and focus resources where they were needed the most.

This is not the first time that Aloha Harvest worked alongside the global Church. In 2017, a record-breaking 6,600 pounds (about 3,000 kilograms) of food was donated, an amount which, according to the nonprofit, would have taken about three days to accumulate.  Church of Christ members in Hawaii accomplished this task in just four hours.

 

 

(Eagle News Service)