First photo: Feed My Sheep founder, CEO and Executive Director Joyce Kawakami joins Operations Director Scott Hopkins in using a pair of oversized scissors to cut a ribbon during Tuesday evening’s Grand Opening Blessing for the nonprofit’s new warehouse in Puunene. The event was also a celebration of the Feed My Sheep’s 20th anniversary and a November Business After Hours for Maui Chamber of Commerce. The cement-block building built in the early 1900s started out as the Rose of Sharon Church. After the church moved, the building served for many years as a welding shop for the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. Power and Pump Division. Feed My Sheep, a faith-based organization that provided 69,000 meals to 3,200 people last year, recently moved to the building from its former site across the street from the Puunene Post Office. Kawakami said the 8.5-acre property near old Puunene School is leased rent free from Alexander & Baldwin and Mahi Pono. She said there are plans to plant an orchard, start a chicken farm and install an aquaponics system. “As soon as we get our water figured out,” she said. Hopkins said about 10 percent of the people served by Feed My Sheep are homeless, while the rest are folks from across Maui society living at or below the poverty line. He said the new facility, like the old one, is called “Graceland.”
Second photo: Maui County Managing Director Sandy Baz suggests that people interested in supporting the mission of Feed My Sheep consider giving cash donations as well as food. “What they really need is cash,” Baz said while standing in for Maui Mayor Michael Victorino on Tuesday.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
- Researchers conduct a coral bleaching survey in Kaneohe Bay on Oct. 23. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources reported Tuesday that bleaching of corals in Hawaii’s waters was not as severe as predicted but still widespread. On Maui, bleaching surveys showed that the amount of coral impacted was less than in 2014 and 2015, when major bleaching events occurred. DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES photo
- A Southwest Airlines flight skids to a stop on the Kahului Airport runway in April. The state Department of Transportation is seeking public input on plans to reconstruct the airport’s main runway, which needs a full replacement of its deteriorated base to prevent recurring cracking. The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo
- Kihei Charter School junior Erin Smith is collecting jeans – skinny, bootcut, high-waisted and everything in between – for Women Helping Women. She hopes to round up 200 pairs of jeans by the end of January. LESLIE MACKENZIE SMITH photo
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