Donations
Please consider donating to Path of Love Hawaii. We have a food, clothing, book, and wellness donation program in place. Our mission is to ensure that no food goes to waste, people have access to gentle used clothing, educational books to read, home goods, musical instruments, bicycles, tools, kitchen appliances and wellness products. Your contribution will help us heal our people, cook meals, and distribute goods to all those who are in need.
Food Donations: By donating food, you can make a significant impact and provide much-needed nourishment to those in need. Together, we can work towards reducing food waste and alleviating hunger in Hawai'i and California. Join us in our mission to create a more compassionate and caring society by making a food donation today. Thank you for your support!
Protection from Liability: Donors of excess food are protected from liability by two laws, one at the federal level and one at the state level.
FEDERAL - Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 (42 USC § 1791)
(c) Liability for damages from donated food and grocery products.
(1) Liability of a person or gleaner.
A person or gleaner shall not be subject to civil or criminal arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product that the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for the ultimate distribution of needy individuals.
CALIFORNIA: In 1977, California became the first in the nation to enact legislation to protect good faith food donors from liability in order to encourage food donations, and soon afterwards national legislation was enacted.
California’s retailers, restaurants, consumers, and others discard millions of tons of wholesome, surplus food, often citing fears of getting sued as their top reason for not donating the food to food banks, food pantries, and other organizations that re-distribute food to individuals in need.
Meanwhile, the state faces a hunger crisis that affects one in eight Californians, including one in four children. While no business has ever been sued for donating food, many businesses either don’t know about the existing protections or cite confusing or ambiguous provisions in the law.
The California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act will strengthen the state’s food donor protection laws in order to maximize food donation.
AB 1219 will make clarifications, such as food donated past the date label printed on the product is not gross negligence, this is due to the fact that many date labels on food have nothing to do with safety and are merely an indication of peak freshness.
AB 1219 also extends protections to good faith donors, for example, the bill provides protections for those who donate food directly to individuals, which can help to enable the timely use of perishable food as well as make smaller quantity donations more efficient.
Additionally, AB 1219 requires Environmental Health Officers, during inspections of food facilities, to promote the recovery of food for people by highlighting the laws which exist to protect food donors.
HAWAII: Good Samaritan Donation of Food Act (HRS 145D §-1, §-2, §-3, §-4, §-5)
[§145D-2] Exceptions to liability. (a) Any donor of food products, who in good faith donates the food for the use or distribution by a charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization to needy persons shall not be liable for any civil damages or criminal penalties for any injuries or illnesses including, but not limited to injuries or illnesses resulting from the nature, age, condition, packaging, or handling of donated food products, except for such damages as may result from the donor’s negligence or wanton acts or omissions.
Donation of Books and Media: We work with local libraries and volunteer based programs to get educational materials to those in need. Books donated will be added to existing libraries or offered for free to people at library events.
The libraries we work with are located on Hawaii and California. We are gradually expanding our donation program of books and media to the mainland. If you are located in California and would like to donate please reach out to us directly or the Friends of the Lincoln Library. This library is located in Lincoln, CA.
If you would like to donate books on your own please Google "Friends Of" for any local libraries in your area. You will be able to contact a volunteer based program which can help fund local libraries.
