Help Lahaina and Support the Lindsey Family

The Lindsey family, the last native Hawaiian family living on Front Street in Lahaina and a family devoted to Maui and its people, has lost everything and needs your help.

On August 8, wildfire ripped through the historic capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Lahaina, Maui. The loss of life, property, history and Hawaiian culture is incomprehensible, devastating and overwhelming. As you look for ways to help, please consider making a donation to Ekolu Lindsey and his family.

I met and became friends with Ekolu years ago through my work with Ecology Project International. Ekolu is a loving and inspiring man who has devoted his life to conservation and Hawaiian cultural education. He is the director of Maui Cultural Lands, a nonprofit created for restoring Honokowai Valley near Lahaina, and he has also put considerable personal resources into an informal group called Polanui Hiu, which is his effort to bring people together to save the Polanui coral reef.

The Lindsey family is the last native Hawaiian family living on Front Street in Lahaina. Ekolu and his mother, Puanani, have shared their home, their food, their traditions, and their love for the ocean and the land with countless numbers of visitors and students from near and far. They work tirelessly to care for Maui and Maui’s people. They have lost everything.

In this time when so many on Maui need help, please consider donating to Ekolu and his family who have selflessly given so much to so many over the years. Your support will help them rebuild so they can continue to give aloha to Lahaina, to Maui, and to everyone whose lives they touch through their work.

If you want to get a better sense of his personal philosophy and the beautiful, humble person Ekolu Lindsey is, you can watch this short “WalkStory” clip from OluKai on YouTube.