Kauai Food Bank, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization, was formally established in the State of Hawaii in November, 1994. Prior to independent incorporation and since its inception in 1992, the organization had been operating under Hawaii Food Bank, an Oahu-based non-profit.

The circumstances of the organization's birth was nothing less then catastrophic. On September 11, 1992, Hurricane Iniki struck Kauai, the northernmost island in the 50th State, and left thousands of individuals homeless and subsequently unemployed. In the aftermath, community heroes and heroines first formed the grassroots Kauai Food Bank amidst incredible environmental, economic and emotional chaos. The storm was classified Category 5, and prior to September 11, 2001, was considered the fifth worst national disaster in the history of the United States.

Initially operated purely by volunteers, Kauai Food Bank distributed over five million pounds of emergency food directly to the hurricane victims. By 1994, Kauai Food Bank served about 10,000 individuals per month, or about 20 percent of the island's population. That year, Kauai Food Bank incorporated, obtained recognition as a 501 (c)(3), and subsequently developed into a professionally staffed, award-winning organization. It has earned the reputation of being the most innovative food bank in Hawaii by addressing the root cause of hunger through original and unique programming. This programming now serves as a model for food banks across the country.

Today the Kauai Food Bank employ six full time staff with a supportive cadre of specially trained and screened volunteers and over thousands of general community volunteers. In 1999, the Kauai Food Bank served the largest percentage of any county population in Hawaii.  Kauai Food Bank now solicits and distributes over 411,000 pounds of food annually to feed over 548,000 meals to needy persons.  We receive about 5,000 requests for emergency food services each month to serve about 8% of Kauai’s total population.  About half of those served are children and 15% are elderly.