The nonprofit mobile food distribution organization Feed My Sheep celebrated its 25th anniversary Tuesday at Grace Bible Church on Maui. Grace Bible was home to Feed My Sheep’s first public distribution site. The anniversary event recognized the generosity of Joyce and Myles Kawakami and thousands of volunteers who have helped the organization do its work with kindness and aloha.

In August 1999, youth director Joyce Kawakami started a food program by chance when she noticed that some of her students were hungry and had no food at home. Although they brought food to these students in secret to protect their privacy, they shared this act of kindness with other needy families who also came to them for help. Weekly food distributions became a regular part of the Kawakami family’s life. Over the course of 25 years, Feed My Sheep grew from six families to 350 families per week.

Feed My Sheep currently serves households in need with four weekly mobile food distributions in Lahaina, Wailuku, Kahului and Kīhei, and a fifth monthly distribution in the community of Hāna on East Maui. Households that are financially able receive 10 pounds of food per person from volunteers and staff whose motto is, “We don’t have customers. We have friends.”

Over the past 25 years, there have been community-wide emergencies such as the recession, COVID 19, and the Maui wildfires that have brought new households to Feed My Sheep. Up to 10,000 people per year have participated in such emergencies. To accommodate this growth, Feed My Sheep has relied on partnerships with organizations such as the County of Maui Department of Human Concerns, Salvation Army, Hale Kau Kau, Maui Food Bank, Maui United Way, Maui County Organizations Active in Disaster (Maui COAD), Common Ground Collective, Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, and more than 30 local churches.

Feed My Sheep’s leadership is actively looking for new ways of sustainability for the organization and the friends it serves, developing opportunities for small-scale farming. “Our goal is to give our friends control over their health and wellbeing by supporting them to grow their own food,” said Executive Director Scott Hopkins.

To donate or volunteer with Feed My Sheep, visit their website feedmysheepmaui.com or call 808-872-9100.