Nutrition program earns award for Big Isle school

Kona Pacific Public Charter School, a pioneer in serving free breakfast in certain Hawaiʻi public schools, was recognized on Friday for cooking and delivering free lunches to hungry kids in West Hawaiʻi during the summer recess since 2015.

School and project director Chris Hecht received the Good Apple Award from the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice at the 6th Annual Artists for Appleseed Dinner, Art Exhibition and Sale at a private club.

Hecht co-founded Kona Pacific, the first public school in 2008 to offer a Waldorf education, and was the prime mover behind the free breakfast and summer nutrition programs. The Kealakekua school serves about 240 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, more than half of them qualifying for free or reduced-priced meals, a key indicator of poverty levels.

The school was the first in the state to offer a universal breakfast program in 2014, with assistance from Appleseed. It paved the way for all students at 52 public schools in low-income areas to receive free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s ability to pay, in the 2017-18 school year.