This holiday season, multiple organizations in Wahiawa have chosen to help the less-fortunate members of the community through providing them with food and other services.

Wahiawa is full of struggling families and homeless men and women. Different members of the community do the best they can in order to help lighten the burden of their fellow citizens.

Abundant Life United Pentecostal Church is one of the many organizations that helps the community by offering a food bank and serving meals to the men and women in the area. Pastor Kerry Wasson is the head of the church, and he has been involved in this church function for several years. He said the food bank has been active for seven years, and served hot meals the last four years.

As a result of his involvement, he has been able to see the number of people who desperately are in need of the services that the charitable organizations in area offer, such as his church.

Wasson estimates that about 50 people draw from the food bank each holiday season, while 30 to 40 people will eat at the each of the periodic served meals for the community.

The situation of the homeless community has concerned many of the city’s citizens. According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the number of people living on the streets of Wahiawa was roughly 60 in January, but the count has drastically increased to more than 120 since that point in time.

Government officials have acknowledged the severity of the situation. According to an article in the Star-Advertiser, State Rep. Marcus Oshiro did his personal census and was able to come up with the most recent figure. However, he is still not certain that this figure is still accurately depicting the number homeless people in the community since he was unable to access certain areas of the town. He had spoken at a town meeting on Nov. 3 at the Wahiawa Hongwanji Mission in order to assure the people that proper precautions were being taken.

Surfing the Nations has also been a big help to the community. Surfing the Nations is a nonprofit organization that is founded by husband and wife Tom and Cindy Bauer in 1997. Like Wasson’s church, the Bauers’ organization has also been involved in providing food for the community. In addition, they have also planned to build a facility for the homeless.

According to the Star-Advertiser, this building will be able to provide the less fortunate with hygiene facilities, food, and clothes

The city of Wahiawa has chosen to team up with Surfing the Nations so that the upcoming building will be able to effectively meet the needs of the homeless.

In an interview with Star-Advertiser, Cindy Bauer said, “The city provided a grant of nearly $100,000 that will pay for the hygiene center, a food pantry, and an office for pro bono health care professionals, an eye doctor social workers, and others who want to help.”

The Bauers hope that the facility will be finished by January 2016 so their organization may continue to alleviate the magnitude of the situation.

To help with volunteer work or donate to Surfing the Nations, you can visit them during office hours, call in to the office, or visit them online. All addresses, contact information, volunteer questions, and donation opportunities can be found online at surfingthenations.com.