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What We Do

Keiki Hunger

Hunger deprives our keiki of more than just food. It’s a simple fact: a child’s chance for a bright tomorrow starts with getting enough food to eat today.

In Hawaiʻi, 1 in 3 keiki may not know where they will get their next meal. For more than 80,000 keiki in Hawaiʻi, getting the energy they need to learn and grow can be a daily challenge. Feeding keiki who are facing hunger is about more than simply giving them food. It’s about providing nourishment, wellness and strength. That’s why Hawaiʻi Foodbank has developed Food 4 Keiki — a group of programs that aims to provide nutritious food to improve our keiki’s health and well-being.

These programs include our School Pantry, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program including SUN Meals and Kaukau 4 Keiki, Feeding Our Future, and Kakoʻo.

Food 4 Keiki School Pantry Program

The Food 4 Keiki School Pantry program serves as a critical food resource for students of all ages, their siblings and their families. School Pantries provide nutritious snacks for students during school hours, along with food for students and families to take home. School pantries provide a variety of foods for families including fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, canned proteins, ready-to-eat meals, and dry goods. By providing access to nutritious food and empowering students and families to make informed choices, the School Pantry program is not only addressing hunger but also fostering healthy eating habits and promoting overall well-being among Hawaiʻi’s keiki and ʻōpio.

School Pantry Toolkit

Looking to start or support a school pantry? The School Pantry Toolkit is a comprehensive guide designed to help Hawaiʻi schools create, launch and sustain their own on-campus food pantry. Developed in partnership with the Hawai‘i State Department of Health and Hawaiʻi Foodbank’s Food 4 Keiki program, it covers setup, food safety, distribution models and best practices to help ensure keiki and their families have reliable access to healthy food.
Download School Pantry Toolkit
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Food 4 Keiki School Pantry

Program Development on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi

Program Development on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi

Since the opening of the first School Pantry on Oʻahu in May 2018, our School Pantry program expanded to 58 sites on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi in 2025. The program distributed over a million pounds of food to more than 92,000 children and their families last 2024.

School Pantry Locations

Food 4 Keiki School Pantries
Oʻahu
  • 'Aiea Elementary School
  • Ala Wai Elementary School
  • James Campbell High School
  • James B. Castle High School
  • Sanford B. Dole Middle School
  • W.R. Farrington High School
  • Hau'ula Elementary School
  • Ka Waihona o ka Na'auao Public Charter School
  • Ka'ala Elementary School
  • Kahuku Elementary School
  • Kailua Elementary School
  • Kailua High School
  • Princess Victoria Ka'iulani Elementary School
  • Kalihi Elementary School
  • Kamaile Academy Public Charter School
  • Kapolei High School
  • Ke'elikōlani Middle School
  • S.W. King Intermediate School
  • Kīpapa Elementary School
  • Lāʻie Elementary School
  • Leihōkū Elementary School
  • Linapuni Elementary School
  • Māʻili Elementary School
  • Mākaha Elementary School
  • Nānāikapono Elementary School
  • Nānākuli Elementary School
  • Nānākuli High and Intermediate School
  • Olomana School
  • Palolo Elementary School
  • Pearl City High School
  • Blanche Pope Elementary School
  • Wahiawā Elementary School
  • Wahiawā Middle School
  • Waiāhole Elementary School
  • Wai'anae Elementary School
  • Wai'anae High School
  • Wai'anae Intermediate School
  • Waimānalo Elementary and Intermediate School
  • Waipahu Elementary School
  • Waipahu High School
Kauaʻi
  • Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle
  • ʻEleʻele Elementary
  • Hanalei Elementary
  • Kalāheo Elementary
  • Kanuikapono Charter
  • Kapa’a Elementary
  • Kapa’a High
  • Kapaa Middle
  • Kauai High
  • Kawaikini P.C School
  • Kekaha Elementary
  • Kilauea Elementary
  • King Kaumualii Elementary
  • Kōloa Elementary
  • Waimea Canyon Middle
  • Waimea High School
  • Wilcox Elementary School
  • Niihau High and Elementary

Feeding Our Future — Summer Lunch Program

During the summer break, students typically do not have access to school meals that are available to them throughout the school year. This results in an increased risk of food insecurity during the summer months. Feeding Our Future provides students enrolled in summer programs with nutritious meals during the summer break. Students typically receive a daily hot lunch consisting of protein, grains, vegetables, fruit and milk. Cold meals such as sandwiches are provided to students on days when they have field trips. Feeding Our Future is vital in reducing food insecurity among children of low-income families and ensuring they continue to have access to nutritious food during the summer break.

Summer Food Service Program

Many students in Hawaiʻi rely on free breakfast and lunch as a primary source of nutritious food during the school year. However, not all schools are able to continue these meal programs during the summer due to staffing, logistical and funding challenges. In partnership with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education’s (HIDOE) Hawaiʻi Child Nutrition Programs, Hawaiʻi Foodbank provides breakfast, lunch and snacks to children during the summer break through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Each weekday, children receive a nutritious shelf-stable meal consisting of protein, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and milk. SFSP meals and snacks are made available to any child who visits a participating meal distribution site, regardless of if they are enrolled in a summer program. These summer meals help students focus on their summer learning and stay healthy during the school break.

Kaukau for Keiki

In partnership with HIDOE’s Hawaiʻi Child Nutrition Programs, Kaukau 4 Keiki is a summer meal box program that provides nutritious meals to children across Hawaiʻi during the summer break. Kaukau 4 Keiki provides keiki with nutritious meal boxes filled with fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and milk. Kaukau 4 Keiki is available in rural communities where students may not be able to get to a summer meal location each day for breakfast and lunch.

Hawaiʻi Foodbank participated as a Kaukau 4 Keiki sponsor for the first time during the summer of 2024. Distributions were held in five locations covering the communities of Hauʻula to Kahuku, Kāneʻohe to Kaʻaʻawa, Kapolei, Waimānalo and Wahiawā. ʻEwa beach was adding as an additional site for the summer of 2025. Each participating child received a shelf-stable meal box containing a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches. The boxes included healthy proteins such as canned tuna and chicken, canned fruits, canned vegetables, rice, oats, and milk. In addition, each child received a weekly bag of locally sourced fruits and vegetables. Fresh poi along with frozen kalo and bread were also provided.

Child and Adult Care Food Program

In 2024, Hawaiʻi Foodbank launched the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a USDA program administered locally by HIDOE. CACFP serves nutritious meals and snacks to eligible children in participating programs. Hawaiʻi Foodbank is a sponsor of the At-Risk Afterschool Meals component of CACFP, which serves meals to children in low-income areas. Students attending an eligible afterschool program receive a shelf-stable meal kit each weekday after school. Each meal kit consists of protein, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and milk. CACFP helps children develop healthy eating habits early in life by introducing them to new foods that meet a meal pattern approved by the USDA.

Questions About Food 4 Keiki?

For more information on Food 4 Keiki and its programs, contact Laura Zysman, Director of Keiki Nutrition, at laura@hawaiifoodbank.org or 808-954-7885.

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