 Well, good afternoon and welcome to Think Tech Hawaii, where I'm the host of non-profits mean business too. And so today, we have the very fortunate experience of being able to interview a local non-profit that does a lot of great things for the community. I'm going to let Leslie, who is a spokesperson for this non-profit. The name of course is, tell me with that. Aloha Harvest. Thank you. God, I have to hear my notes. So thank you. Aloha Harvest. So Leslie, why don't you tell us a little bit about the mission of Aloha Harvest? Sure. So Aloha Harvest is a food rescue and redistribution non-profit. We were founded in 1999. And the idea behind it is that hunger is not an issue of scarcity of resources. It's an issue of the distribution system for food being wasteful and inequitable. So in Hawaii, one in five people relies on food pantries for assistance, but at the same time we throw away about 26% of our local food supply every year. That comes out to 237,000 tons of food that's perfectly good being thrown into the landfill when we have so many people who are facing food insecurity. So that's why Aloha Harvest exists. We pick up excess food from places like grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, wholesale distributors, catering companies. And we have about 250 different people we pick up food from per year. And then we redistribute it seven days a week free of charge to non-profits and social service agencies that are feeding the hungry. And we have about 175 of those partners who are the recipients. Wow, that's impressive. I remember going over some of those stats with you in the beginning. I think the terminology that you use is not widely known to a lot of people. So what exactly is food rescue? Yeah, so food rescue is recognizing the fact that we don't use all of the food that we produce. So it's basically the term rescue means that food we produce often, even though it's still good. So we're talking about bananas that are maybe starting to get a little spotty and get taken off the shelves. We're talking about cereal boxes that get dented in transport and so are never put on the shelves. Yogurt, that's like a day out from its best by date. I would still eat it. I would still feed it to anyone. So it's that kind of food that just because there's no way for these businesses to sell it, it gets thrown away. And so instead we step in and we're protected from liability as well as the donors by state and federal legislation. So we step in, yeah, we rescue that food and then we get it out for free because it's not going to be sold anyway. And we get it out for free to the people who are feeding those in need. That's so amazing. And what would you say that it is that it's needed? Why is food rescue even necessary? Yeah, it has several different areas of impact that I think make it so necessary. The first one being just obviously again the issue of hunger. So if you zoom out globally, I mentioned the statistic that one in five people in Hawaii, you know, depends on food pantries for assistance, but we're throwing away about 26% of our available food globally. We throw away about a third of all the food that we produce and the UN has put out as statements several years ago that if we were to capture, rescue, redistribute all that food we throw away, we could solve world hunger. I think it's four times over, four or five times over. So that's why it's necessary because we have the resources to fix this problem. It's just the work of changing our mindset about it in our distribution system. So that's really our goal is not just getting people fed, but helping to spread awareness of the fact that it's even an issue that food, so much food is being wasted while people are going hungry. So that's the first most obvious area of impact. And then there's also an environmental and economic impact. So on the environmental side, rotting food in the landfill produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. So the more food that we divert from the landfill and put to good use, the more we can lessen our footprint in greenhouse gas emissions. And then finally, as you know, we import so much of our food and we spend lots of money to get it here. So the facts that we are spending money on importing food via plane and ship and everything and then turning around and throwing it away. We're literally throwing away dollars when we do that. So again, when we can put that to good use and it's second life, you know, if it doesn't get sold, then we are building up and strengthening more resilient community and actually getting our worth out of the dollars that we spend to get food here. I absolutely love that. I when I heard what you do and how you do it, it's just it makes so much sense. And the fact that you guys are doing it and you're so very passionate about it. I really I love that as well. And so where does a lot of you mentioned where some of this food comes from? I know you're working with various restaurants, hotels, even people who grow food. And then how has COVID-19 affected Aloha's operations? It's a great question. During COVID-19, the past two months, we have really gone into overdrive and kind of our amazing executive director, Phil Acosta, he's taken an approach that I just think has been essential where instead of kind of like pausing or hanging back and being like, oh, we have to adjust and pause. He was like, well, we have to adjust and move forward because there were already so many people who were food insecure before this. And we know as unemployment is peaking that even more people than ever are in need of free food. So in March, we doubled the amount of food that we rescued compared to March of last year. And then in April, we're just wrapping up those numbers. We increased by 78 percent. And that is probably a temporary spike in excess food, just as everyone on the food supply chain was scrambling to, you know, people were having to close, people were having to change hours, convert to takeout. So ironically, even though the number of people struggling with hunger was increasing, there was actually even more food that if food rescue wasn't in place, would have just been thrown away because there was nothing to do with it as they were trying to adjust. So we were able to increase the amount of food that we rescued. And that's opened up a lot of different collaborative partnerships in order to actually, you know, double the amount that we're not only capturing, but then where does it go? Like how to partner with people to make sure it gets out into the communities where it's needed. You know, I'm fortunate enough to be belong to one of those organizations that that you contribute to. And I and I got to tell you, being on the front lines, it's an amazing experience to be able to bring this resource into the community. And it it does. It makes a huge difference. I was surprised by the amount of people that that were in need and are willing to come out and and receive this wonderful gift that that you guys are redistributing. So I just I can't say enough great things about what Aloha Harvest is doing. So you so you mentioned that there has there been an increase or decrease in the new and the need for food rescue? Yeah, there's definitely been an increase. I did mention that I think that the spike in excess food is temporary because people will adjust and acclimate the amount of food that they're ordering and how it's distributed, you know, on the on their ends. But we are actually increasing beyond just food rescue temporarily in response to COVID-19 because the need is there. So one partnership that has been amazing and a primary part of our COVID-19 response has been Chef Huey Tons Aloha Harvest. And I know, you know, Amanda was Chef Huey and they're amazing. Amanda and Mark, just a group of chefs and people involved in the restaurant and food industry who already before COVID-19 just kind of recognize the fact that chefs have a powerful piece to play in in the community. Food is such an essential piece, whether you're struggling with hunger or not. You know, it's just an essential piece of community. So they had already been a good Huey. And then we partnered with them to basically help process all that extra excess food that we were getting in March. And that was also with Pacific Gateway Center. They're another nonprofit. They offered up dry and cold storage space as well as they have a kitchen incubator and allowed us to start using their kitchen so that for the first time, we were actually starting to store food overnight and also with Chef who he's Chef who he's helped start to prepare it before we redistributed because prior to COVID, we would never store stuff overnight. We're always same day in our refrigerator trucks, pick up, drop same day. And so we've adjusted to move into a little storage, some cooking with Chef Huey and through Chef who just opened up a much many more distributions channels right where the food can go. Malama meals has also been amazing. They were our top recipient of rescued food for the past two months. Wow, that's I I'm just blown away that, you know, it's really an amazing thing that you guys get to be a part of each and every day. Can you talk a little bit more in detail about your collaboration with Chef Huey? Yeah, basically, they, as I mentioned, just provided a lot of like at the beginning of our collaboration, it was just a lot of general support for each other's thing. What do we do? What do you do? And how do we need to fuse to respond to what's happening with COVID-19? So right now we're in a phase where they are regularly cooking meals out of not only Pacific Gateway Center, which is in downtown Honolulu, but they've actually expanded to two other satellite kitchen. And they are now also cooking out of Open Kitchen Oahu in Waimea Valley and Konobruing Company in East Oahu. So, you know, kind of more coverage on the island of where food is being cooked, because again, that's something that oftentimes would be left to our recipient agencies before COVID. So, you know, our recipients range all across the board. It includes social service agencies, youth empowerment programs, where the focus isn't hunger, but the focus is on youth who may have dropped out of high school and are getting their education and also can't afford to bring lunch. And so when we can provide that piece, it enables them to focus on what they need to focus on. A lot of places that did have kitchens that were up and running, that were using it to prepare excess food that now aren't, you know, because they've had to scale back or whatever. So the fact that now we have three really strong connected kitchens where we can funnel rescued food is amazing. And for April with Chef Houli, they processed about 30,000 pounds of food and about 19,000 of those pounds were rescued food that went into the kitchens, got prepared, got repackaged into like either Ohana bags or, you know, plate lunches and then sent back out. Wow, that, I don't even, speechless. That's a great thing. I mean, when you get an opportunity to participate in the community in that way. The other thing that you'd mentioned, so it sounds like your operation is expanding because you now have these other centers where you can make better use of the food that you're getting and repackaging it. So that's an interesting idea and concept. So you're getting in all this food. So where do all these hands come from? Yeah, it's really been, like I said, since we had, since we already had a network of 175 recipient agencies in place, a lot of them have been involved, a lot of support from people connected with Chef Houli, so volunteers they brought in. We have an amazing base of volunteers. And then just a lot of like we've provided support for pop up grassroots distributions where there's already people, whether they're directly connected to an agency or not, who are popping up and setting things up. And then we just come in and support as needed. So. Wow, so that's a good, so if, so would an organization then just reach out to you and say we're interested in participating or being recipients of some of that repurposed food that you're referring to? Yes, and that information is on our website at alohaharvest.org. We're encouraging people to go through there or just to email our general info at alohaharvest.org for now, because we're not in the office all the time anymore with working from home. But basically on our website, there's a simple intake form where you can apply to receive rescued food. There's food safety guidelines. There's that information I mentioned about protection from liability. So I would encourage anyone who wants to receive can go through there. You know, being in the insurance industry and understanding the nature of liability, that's such a huge piece. And it really, I think is the impetus for allowing these different organizations to give as freely as they are. So that's amazing. And we could certainly talk about that at some point. So let's talk about what are some of the current projects that you have in the works? Yeah, actually I did just see, I wasn't sure if right now was a good time if you wanted to go on that break. And then we could return to that after. Yeah, you know, she will, one minute to break, she says, so. Oh, okay. We can break at any time. Let's go ahead and do that now. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Hi, I'm Rusty Kamori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach for the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness. I feature a wide range of amazing guests who share valuable insights about how going Beyond the Lines leads to success in everything you do in life. I'm looking forward to you joining me every Monday at 11 a.m. Aloha. Welcome back to our show. We are talking to Aloha Harvest and Leslie Pio is their representative who very well versed on the subject and I gotta tell you, I'm very impressed with everything that they do over there. And so Leslie, you wanted to talk a little bit about some of the current projects that you have going on in the works. Yeah. So a couple that are cool to highlight because I know you're directly connected to one is that, as I mentioned, we've worked with groups that are doing pop-up distributions. And so we started working on distributions in Palo Alto and Papakoleo and Waimanalo. And I'd love to offer you, Brandon, if you'd like to just talk about your involvement with the distribution at Palo Alto and what you've seen there. Well, what I can tell you is that I'm just always blown away and amazed about the kind of food that you guys bring to us to distribute. And we've gotten such things as MREs. We've gotten, we always get fresh eggs. We get fresh produce. We get just a variety of amazing food that can be made into meals. I've seen potatoes, I've seen onions. My wife who does all the shopping for our house often comments about that as well because she's very aware of the price of everything. And so food is one of the more expensive items here in Hawaii and especially fresh produce. And you guys deliver in spades on that. And it brings such a joy to my heart when we're able to distribute such high quality food. I'm meals ready to eat. The MREs I mentioned, but also the meals that are pre-prepared. We've gotten meals from mud and honey. We got a meatloaf mashed potato meal that all you had to do is warm it and serve it to your family. We got, there was a pasta meal with chicken and pasta and cream sauce. I think you may have gotten that from Foodland. And all you have to do is pop it in the oven and they were ready to make soups that were already ready made. All you have to do was warm them. I remember one of the recipients looking down into what they were receiving and they're like, oh, I'm gonna make that tonight. And I was like, wow, you know? It's just, it's very impactful when you're on the front lines end and you get to see the people and how grateful they are to receive that food. So bravo. You brought up so many good opportunities for me to highlight some of our supporters like you mentioned the eggs that comes from Eggs Hawaii. They were actually our number one food donor in April. And I think they were in our top three for March. Foodland was our number one that we rescued food from in March and our number two in April. So we pick up from 17 sites for Foodland. So shout out to them. We love that they're such a big proponent of like not wasting the food that doesn't end up getting sold. And the MREs came from FEMA. And what you talked about with the fresh produce that has been another cool current project we're working on in that. We already rescued from many farms before COVID before farmers markets were shut down. We were set up at four farmers markets where at the end of the day offenders instead of having to figure out what to do with all their produce that they didn't sell could just pass it on to us and we would deliver it to an agency. But a new problem that's popped up that we've worked to address is just providing support for the existing like typical food supply chain. So outside of food rescue, our food industry is hurting, especially our local ag producers. And so we have worked with Chef Hui in large part to secure grants and fundings to start being able to not only rescue produce that's going on sold from local farms but to actually help pay for some of that as well so that they're supported through this as well as the people on the other end receiving the food. So we're really excited to be able to do that. And there've just been, I wanna specifically highlight the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. They are helping provide funding for our staying at Pacific Gateway Center. We partnered with the city and county of Honolulu to do the first mass food distribution. It was that YPO soccer complex and we gave out 1,000 bags of ready to go. It provided food for I think six to eight families of six to eight people. Everything you need like for groceries and for making a special soup. Yeah, there's several more I could highlight. You can always go on our website and see our Mahalo banner but those are some of the ones I specifically wanted to say thank you too. That's great. And then the whole coordination of all this logistics that goes on behind the scenes so that all this can happen. That is another amazing feat. Do you wanna talk a little bit about that? Sure, that's a great opportunity to say we have the best operations manager in the world. Her name is Melle and she's been with Aloha Harvest for 10 years. So she's really like the heart and soul behind so much of what happens. And it's actually a small team which is pretty cool. We just hired a data and communication specialist this month, but prior to that it was just Phil, our executive director, Melle, our operations manager and I'm the community resource coordinator. So we're the office and then we have about eight drivers who are out there seven days a week. Everybody loves them, you know, everybody gives them a honk when they see them on the road. So they're like the faces out there doing the work. But. That's amazing. Well, you have a very, I'm impressed. It would seem that you had a much larger organization by the amount of distribution that you are such a huge part of. So how does, wow, that's amazing. And then you coordinate all the volunteer effort as well. Yes, which I can say, I know some people listening to this might be wanting to volunteer. And I would encourage you to go to alohaharvest.org slash volunteer. There is a note on the website and I'll just say it now that we're in a transition period where, you know, as soon as COVID hit, we had to scale back or change or just pause a lot of our normal volunteer activities. And we're in the process of like basically bringing on new volunteer management software and creating adjusted opportunities that people can help with during COVID. So there's a short form for you to fill on our website. And as soon as our new system is up, I'll reach out to you and send you a link to register. In the meantime, volunteers who are already registered have still been able to help, but just it's been on a smaller scale until we can get our new system up. That's amazing. One of the things I'd like to find out a little bit more about as well is what kind of projects do you hope to achieve over the next several years? Yeah, that's a great question. We're very fortunate in that Phil, our executive director is very ambitious in his desire to get as many people fed as possible and to rescue as much food as possible. So within the next five years, he does have a goal of wanting to expand to the neighbor islands because, you know, lots of times we'll get questions like, oh, this is available here. And right now we're only on Oahu. So we would like to expand to the neighbor islands. We also would like to be able to have more of a resiliency hub where in a way COVID was the impetus for moving into things that were already on our like future dream list, like starting to have storage space, starting to partner more directly with people who can cook the rescued food before we give it. So I'd say our second big goal is storage and a hub where the food can be just better distributed and build up more long-term resiliency so that, because hunger is gonna remain, right? Even after this pandemic passes, it was there before it will be there after. And so just being able to use kind of the fact that this has put more of a spotlight on it and everyone's more aware of it and capitalize that in a way to be like, yeah. And so let's like get the systems in place to where we're ready to respond to the next one. And in the interim, we're able to better care for the people who were already in that boat before all this happened. That's just amazing. I mean, I guess we're getting close to the end of the show. And I just wanted to ask, how can the listeners support Aloha's harvest? That's a great question. Listeners can support really just taking stock of whatever resources you do have. If that is time, maybe going on our website, poking around, learning more, and deciding I'm gonna be an advocate for Aloha's harvest. So I'm just gonna start sharing this information. Maybe even once restaurants are back up and running, I always encourage people, ask your server, do you know about Aloha's harvest? And just be ready to give them the little three sentence pitch that's right on our about page of our website of who we are and what we do. If that's money, you can always donate as a nonprofit. Obviously, we always appreciate financial donations to help keep us running. If that's connections, feel free to reach out. Again, through our website, our contact information is there and say, hey, I run this business or I know this person and can I get you guys connected? Especially during COVID-19, that's been amazing. Just like an explosion of connections with people like you. So. Well, you're so nice. You know, I'm bitten by the bug. So you can assure that I'll be reaching out. We had a discussion earlier about some of the things that I want to become involved in to bring additional resources to bear. So it's an exciting time. It's an amazing bit of work that you're doing. And that's okay. And, you know, having children not go to bed hungry. I mean, that's a huge thing. And I know that it's very near and dear to your hearts as well. I saw some things about that on your web page, but making sure that the people get fed. Yeah. That's very fortunate. And you are my very passionate advocate. And I think you do a great job for a law of harvest. I immediately bonded with you and I felt like you would be a great interviewee. And as it turns out, that's what happened. So it all worked out for the best. Is there anything else you'd like to highlight about the organization? I just want to say thank you. Thank you to all the listeners. And one of the biggest things I've seen working with the law of harvest during COVID-19 and even before is just seriously the power of our community. I moved here in September and I'm just so blown away by our community and how highly prioritized it is to care for each other and to not view it as give and take but just give. Like if I have more resources, I want to give so this other person can be more balanced out. And so I'm just really thankful to be here and thank you to our community. We're lucky to have you. And I feel the same way. So, you know, Hawaii is a unique place. It's a beautiful place. And the beauty is in the hearts of the people who live here. And we get to see that every day and I'm also very grateful. So thank you very much.