‘We’ll be there’: Meet N’ Eat marks 30 years serving the hot meal community and more

Meet N’ Eat, a program that provides free hot meals and food baskets to community members, celebrated its 30th anniversary on Tuesday by serving hundreds of meals as the volunteer effort nears 300,000 meals served.

Taking place at Kealakehe Middle School, the takeaway food service handed out 500 meals on Tuesday evening, with a hot dinner from the Cheers Tapas Bar.

On the menu? Chicken teriyaki, long rice with chicken, pork and white rice, and groceries for the week.

The food distributed to people in need comes from local restaurants and grocery stores. Among them: Cheers Tapas, Lava Java, Kukio Resort, Cal-Kona Produce, KTA Super Stores, The Food Basket and the University of the Nations.

“The line usually goes as far as you can see,” said Scott Unger, head of the Rotary Club of Kona, the nonprofit that runs Meet N’ Eat.

“We try to kick it off in half an hour, but tonight we’ll probably stay longer,” he said. “If we have a ton of food, we’ll probably keep going. We bring all extra food to the Salvation Army. We pretty much give it our all every time.

With about 20 volunteers in total, five people were responsible for preparing the food and another dozen for distributing it.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Meet N’ Eat has increased its meals from 300 per night to 500.

“We didn’t let that die,” Unger explained. “The need for meals has quadrupled since COVID-19.”

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, meals are prepared to be picked up by people in cars rather than in the cafeteria, as has been the case for decades that the program has been running. While people no longer participate in the camaraderie of meeting and eating together, the drive-thru operation has increased the number of people who can be served.

“It works better for us and for others. Get more participation that way,” Unger said. “The need is there. People come here and enjoy it. »

However, the challenge of finding long-term volunteers, as well as the logistics of the weekly Meet N’ Eat draw, continues.

“We’ve been doing this for 30 years and it’s not easy. But people have the sense to help. So we can pour more bands in there. But we struggled to get the volunteers to stay. The challenges are logistical. And go out and get all the food and organize everything,” Unger said. “But we are probably the oldest food security organization on the Big Island. I don’t know anyone else who does it that long.

Since its inception, Meet N’ Eat has served over 290,000 meals, not including grocery bags and treats.

Meet N’ Eat also partners with the Salvation Army, Lions Club, Elks club and a group of female paddlers, who each serve a meal each week. The program also offers a special Thanksgiving meal each year.

Ardie Ikeda had led the program for 26 years after the program was created in 1992 by Kona’s Task Force on Feeding the Hungry. During his tenure, a quarter of a million meals have been served and, although he retired in 2018, he still remains the programme’s unofficial chef.

According to Unger, the only time Meet N’ Eat won’t serve meals is if there’s a hurricane.

“We will be there,” he said.

Meet N’ Eat is held every Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Kealakehe Middle School near Onipaa St. in Kailua-Kona with walk-in and drive-thru service. Those looking to volunteer, donate money or contribute articles should contact Scott Unger via email at [email protected]