300 march to Capitol to keep elderly from going hungry

To raise awareness about the elderly who rely on Lanakila Meals on Wheels, the biggest food program for seniors on Oahu, more than 300 seniors, children and others, many carrying signs reading "End Senior Hunger" and "Our Kupuna Need You," marched from Honolulu Hale to the state Capitol on Thursday, March 12.

This seventh annual march came while Lanakila Meals on Wheels reported a growing waiting list of more than 300 names. Donations are badly needed, but Lanakila also needs hundreds of volunteers for a variety of jobs, including helping with 19 Kupuna Wellness Centers and delivering food to hundreds of senior citizens across Oahu.

Lanakila served more than 250,000 meals to seniors last year. It faces rising food costs and flat government funding – hence the Capitol rally. Mayor Mufi Hannemann led the marchers and recited some troubling statistics. For example, 19 percent of Hawaii residents are 60 years or older; by 2020 the percentage will grow to one out of every four people, while 35,000 senior citizens have a disability and no access to healthy meals.

Before leading the march, Hannemann spoke to the crowd about the reason they turned out: "To ensure that government never forgets its responsibility to show compassion for our kupuna. … No matter what our fiscal challenges are, we cannot forget funding for our seniors."

On March 18, Vice President Joe Biden announced the release of $100 million in Recovery Act funds for Senior Nutrition Programs. The funding is broken down as follows: $65 million for nutrition services provided at senior centers and other community sites; $32 million for home-delivered nutrition services and $3 million for Native American nutrition programs.

For Hawaii, $325,000 will go to nurtrition services at senior centers and $160,000 will go to home-delivered nutrition services -- a total of $485,000.

Click here for additional information regarding the release of Recovery funds for Senior Nutrition Programs, including a state-by-state breakdown of expected funding.