From delays to activation trouble, city grocery card program faces more woes First they were delayed, then some couldn't be activated: City Card program sees more problems By Rick Daysog | December 22, 2020 at 6:18 PM HST - Updated December 23 at 5:01 AM HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The city’s grocery card program is facing a new round of criticism from recipients who say that can’t activate their cards. Earlier this month, the city issued 4,000 debit cards loaded with $500 to residents hard hit by the pandemic. The money was intended to help people buy groceries and essential goods. But many of those cards were delayed because the city used an East Coast vendor that wasn’t able to ship them out in time due to winter storms and the holiday rush.