Filipino center gets $30K grant to increase free meals for seniors

Nareit Hawaii Executive Director Gladys Quinto Marrone (middle left) presented Binhi At Ani President Melen Agcolicol (middle right) with a grant of $30,000 to support its program providing free meals to Maui seniors on fixed incomes. CONTRIBUTED

The Binhi At Ani Filipino Community Center in Maui, Hawaii received a $30,000 grant to expand its free prepared meal deliveries to senior citizens on fixed incomes.

The center’s Bayanihan Feeding Program received the grant from Nareit Hawaii, the worldwide representative of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and publicly traded real estate companies.

Melen Agcolico, Binhi At Ani president, called the grant “a godsend” that would enable the center to pay for food and supplies for the next two years and increase the number of seniors in Maui to whom it can provide free meals, according to Maui News.

The center started the program in February 2021 to provide free meals on weekends to elderly residents on fixed incomes living in the Hale Mahaolu senior housing community.

Its aim was to protect seniors from Covid infection and keep them fed with healthy meals. It has been serving some 150 seniors every weekend.

Gladys Quinto Marrone, executive director of Nareit Hawaii praised Binhi at Ani’s “spirit and commitment to look out for the health and welfare of Maui’s seniors.”