Hawaii Guardsmen reinforce Kauai community food distributions after storm damages from Hurricane Lowell

ELEELE, Kauai - The Hawaii National Guard (HING) provided a helping-hand to community partners during a major food drive at the Eleele Baptist Church this morning on Sept. 12, 2026.

In the aftermath of recent storm damage and supply chain disruptions from Hurricane Lowell affecting local grocery store shelves, HING Personnel stepped in alongside state, county and community organizations to assist with food drives at the Lihue Hale, Holy Cross Church and King’s Chapel over the past few days.

The Eleele food drive expanded its regular monthly footprint to meet a surge in community needs following Lowell’s impacts, handing out food to 225 vehicles.

“This is something we usually do once a month; we usually serve anywhere from 75-125 families,” said Larry Hale, the pastor of Eleele Baptist Church. “But because of the hurricane, obviously there’s more people that need food.”

The island-wide effort relies on close coordination with the Hawaii Food Bank and community organizations. HING personnel assisted with the volunteers to ensure rapid distribution of water, meals, ready to eat, fresh produce and other shelf-stable goods.

For Spc. Taylor Calixterio-Martinez, a Kauai native assigned to Echo Company, 29th Brigade Support Battalion, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, serving at the food drive hits close to home. Though she routinely flies to Oahu for monthly drill weekend duties, state active duty orders provided a direct way to support her home island.

Most of my friends and family have been affected by the hurricane, and with the barge having delays and grocery stores not having food, it's really good to see everybody being helped," Calixterio-Martinez said. "It's really nice that I get to be on orders and stay home for it."

The food drive efforts also offered an early hands-on experience for a future Soldier enrolled in the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP). Recruit Ryan Murata volunteered to assist alongside activated HING personnel while attending his RSP weekend duties.

“It means a lot for me because I can feel like I’m in the Guard while helping out, and I just feel like I belong with everyone,” Murata said.

While the HING provided additional surge capacity during this critical response window, regular community food distribution operations at Eleele Baptist Church remain an ongoing, monthly resource. The church hosts its routine food distributions on the second Saturday of every month from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., while also maintaining emergency food supplies on site for local families in need throughout the month.

As the recovery efforts continue to expand and the full extent of the storm's damage becomes clearer, the HING is actively postured and fully prepared to scale its operations to support local partners. The HING response so far to Hurricane Lowell has included road clearance, transportation of vital equipment and personnel, search and recovery, water distribution and emergency power support.

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