The September 11, 2001 tragedy has had a snowball effect on our economy. With the drop in tourism more and more jobs have been eliminated and caused a significant increase in demand on our food resources. October demand was up slightly, but by November our distribution was up about 30%.

Because of the generosity of our community and a large legislative grant our shelves are presently in a near full state. We have been able to accommodate everyone who has appealed to us. We have increased our off site distribution and have enlisted to aid of various agencies to help us. Currently we are working with 251 agencies.

I think that within a year we will be back to tourism numbers close to our pre 9-11 numbers. Because of the limited job opportunities in Hawaii we will continue to see many individuals have two or more part time jobs. It is the nature of our major industry to hire when tourism is up and to lay off when tourism is down. The demands on our services will show a slight abatement towards the end of this year and after that your guess is as good as mine.