MEDIA RELEASE: New ChoiceMART Music Series To Benefit The Food Basket
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 3, 2016
New ChoiceMART Music Series to Benefit The Food Basket
The “Kohomua Music Series at The Ranch” will provide needed non-perishables to The Food Basket.
KEALAKEKUA – ChoiceMART, located in the Kealakekua Ranch Center, is set to launch a brand new music series benefiting The Food Basket – Hawai`i Island’s Food Bank.
The “Kohomua Music Series at The Ranch” will begin on Nov. 12 and run on every second Saturday continuing through February from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Each afternoon of entertainment will feature Hawaiian cultural performances by top local artists in an open air setting on the lawn at Kealakekua Ranch Center. Attendees are welcome to bring their blankets and chairs.
On Nov. 12, Bula Akamu, an accomplished Hawaiian and contemporary music recording artist who specializes in `ukulele, guitar, and slack key, will kick off the series. Future performers will be announced at a later date.
Admission to each performance is free with the donation of two cans of non-perishable food items to support The Food Basket. ChoiceMART will host a display in-store of top needed items that will be available to purchase on the day of the events.
The Food Basket’s mission to feed the hungry in Hawai`i County closely aligns with what ChoiceMART aims to do in the South Kona community, and is what drew the Captain Cook grocer to create a benefit event, according to Rhonda Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kealakekua Ranch, Ltd and ChoiceMART.
“Kealakekua Ranch has been a partner in the community for over 135 years,” said Kavanagh. “When Kealakekua Ranch launched ChoiceMART in 2000 our goal was to ensure the community had a local source for groceries. Helping feed families in our community is important to us. We make contributions to The Food Basket on a weekly basis, and this concert series is another way to help serve families in need.”
“South Kona is a community that is often overlooked when it comes to services,” said En Young, Executive Director of The Food Basket. “It is wonderful to have a partner like ChoiceMART, who is so rooted in the community, sponsor this type of activity that brings entertainment and happiness to the residents while raising awareness of unmet needs.
Beer, wine, and pupus will be available at the event for purchase. No coolers are allowed in the venue.
Established in 1881, Kealakekua Ranch, Ltd owns and operates Kealakekua Ranch Shopping Center and ChoiceMART supermarket in Captain Cook. Kealakekua Ranch is a major employer in the South Kona district and also supports hundreds of local farmers, fishermen, and producers by featuring local produce, fish, and island products at ChoiceMART.
About The Food Basket:
The Food Basket is Hawai`i Island’s only food bank and is an island-wide, supplemental food network that collects and distributes nutritious, high quality food to low income households, the working poor, the disabled, the ill, senior citizens, children’s programs, and other charitable organizations that serve the population. Supplemental food is provided regardless of religious beliefs, gender, or ethnicity. The Food Basket is a registered 501 (c) 3 non-profit. To learn more about The Food Basket or to donate funds to help support The Food Basket’s mission, visit HawaiiFoodBasket.org.
The Food Basket Mission:
The mission of The Food Basket, Inc. is to feed the hungry in Hawai’i County while tending to the root causes of this critical social problem. The Food Basket will accomplish its mission by preventing the waste of all edible food in Hawai’i County, feeding the hungry with this food, educating the community about local hunger and what can be done to solve this social problem, and collaborating with organizations of partnering missions to eradicate the root of hunger and other social ills