photo courtesy Hawaiʻi Police Department

(BIVN) – The second annual “Fill A Cruiser Food Drive” will take place Friday, July 1st.

Police will have a marked police cruiser parked in front of the Kona Costco from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where the general public can donate nonperishable food items. The donations will be given to the Food Basket in order to help island residents in need.

“During the Covid-19 lockdown we really saw an increased need for food assistance from our local community and kupuna,” said Kona Community Policing Officer Dwayne Sluss in a police media release. “The management and staff of the Kona Costco also realized the major need for this event and how it would positively help our community. With their assistance, we created the first ‘Fill A Cruiser Food Drive’, which was very successful with people donating 4,053 pounds of food and $1,381.83 in donations for the Food Basket,” added Sluss.

Sluss noted that while Covid-19 restrictions have eased, food insecurity among island residents has not. “I hope everyone will take a small amount of time and effort to come and donate to the food drive,” he added.

The “Fill a Cruiser Food Drive” is a collaborative effort between the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Kona Community Policing Section, Costco of Kona, the Food Basket Inc., and KAPA Radio personality Tommy Ching.