A state program to use $100 million in federal funds to help island families with housing and utility assistance resulted in over 9,000 requests for applications and information while library supporters donated canned goods and nonperishable food in response to the ongoing closure of the federal government and reduction in federal SNAP benefits.

Monday represented the first day of food donations at 48 of Hawaii’s 51 public libraries, and the Kaimuki library saw “the true aloha of our community,” library spokesperson Cindy McMillan said, quoting the branch manager, who also said “we received several donations almost as soon as we opened.”

At Waikiki’s Library for the Blind and Print Disabled, the most popular donated foods were luncheon meat, Ramen-style noodles and Vienna sausages, McMil

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