Pahoa Volunteers Distribute Food, Ice and Water to Storm-Impacted Residents

Cars wrapped around the parking lot of Billy Kenoi District Park Gym in Pahoa on March 18, some arriving well before the 1 p.m. start, as Vibrant Hawaii volunteers worked a drive-through line handing out food, ice and drinking water to residents still reeling from the Kona-low storm that tore through the island four days earlier.

Volunteers Twinkle Barquis directed the flow of traffic while Isaac Pedro and Kahiau Deguair loaded bags of ice and cases of water directly into trunks and truck beds. The shouts passing down the loading chain told the story of what each household needed most: "No ice just water," "one and one," "just food," all of it called out while straining to be heard over the drone of a Matson refrigerated trailer parked on site and stocked with ice.

Nearly 150 vehicles received supplies during the two-hour event, according to crowd tallies from coverage of the distribution. It was the second consecutive day Vibrant Hawaii had run the operation; the prior day drew about 102 cars, and by Wednesday the word had spread enough to push the line further out into the parking lot.

Allison Barrett, co-captain of Vibrant Hawaii's Pahoa Resilience Hub and a Nanawale resident who was herself still without power Wednesday afternoon, walked the length of the car line with a clipboard. She gave drivers information about SNAP benefits and programs offering compensation for spoiled food. "We all have to come together," Barrett said. "That's something I've learned here." She described reactions from people receiving aid as overwhelmingly positive.

One volunteer, drawn out during spring break while his wife stayed home with the kids, put it plainly: "They asked for volunteers, and I was like, yeah, I'm willing to help out. I'll just come and help out as much as I can."

The distribution was organized by Vibrant Hawaii, a nonprofit that operates a network of community resilience hubs across Hawaii Island focused on disaster preparedness and relief. The effort came directly in response to the March 14-15 Kona-low storm, which brought hurricane-force winds and extensive flooding to the island, triggering road closures and damaging homes, businesses, vehicles and farmland across multiple districts.

As of Thursday morning, approximately 1,100 Hawaiian Electric Company customers remained without power, the majority of them in Puna and North and South Kona. No timeline had been announced for when service would be restored to the hardest-hit areas.