The Kelea Foundation

We are a mother-daughter surfing duo that are setting up a Humanitarian aid effort for those impacted by the Maui Wildfires that devastated parts of the Island including the historic town of Lahaina.

I have been going to Hawaii since I was a teen and lived there for a short period in the 80’s. I brought, my daughter, Meg to Maui when she was 8 where she took her first surf lesson. I learned to surf in Hawaii a few years later. Lahaina became our favorite place to be and surf. For the last 20 years, I have visited Maui, often with Meg as my surf buddy. We want to give back to a place that has given us so much.

Bags of Hope is a platform to raise funds in our community. We will have a presence at numerous upcoming events held in NJ to gather donations through sponsorships, locally donated gift baskets and beautiful canvas bags designed by yours truly ArtfulLee. The GoFundMe will be a large part of the fundraising effort.

We are partnering with Adaptive Maui and the Kelea Foundation, a grassroots (501c3) non-profit community-based organization whose mission is to make Maui's outdoors more accessible to all visitors.

Since my daughter Meg and I are based in NJ, Adaptive Maui will be the "boots on the ground" to ensure the funds raised will reach the locals who need assistance with the short and long-term recovery process. They are currently working to ensure those displaced by fires have all the medical equipment and treatment they need. Replacing wheelchairs, walkers and other equipment as well as ensuring they get specialty care for hearing, vision, dental, PT and anything else they need.

We know Maui will take a long time to recover so this is just the beginning of our efforts to raise money. We will post updates so you can see that the funds are going to the beautiful people of Maui to help them rebuild their lives.

Aloha and Mahalo

Lee, Brett (Adaptive Maui), Meg