Help Maui Rise: Aid 'Ohana Displaced by Fires

Team fundraiser

Kenna Reed and 2 others are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of GoFundMe.org.

Tax deductible

Aloha,

Welcome to the collective hub for Help Maui Rise, the spreadsheet you may have seen circulating that houses the stories of families who have lost their homes and livelihoods in the Maui Wildfires. What started out as a simple Google sheet to share within our inner circles has evolved into a growing resource of over 1,600 affected loved ones, all vetted by our team and reviewed by GoFundMe.

In Hawai'i, community is everything, and when the fires began on August 8th, we knew we needed to take action. As community members, our only wish was to provide aid to the displaced 'ohana of Lāhainā & Kula as quickly and directly as possible. The Maui fires took nearly 3,000 homes and businesses. One hundred and one were confirmed dead and many remained unaccounted for. Families were given no warning and sometimes only seconds to escape, many of them with only the clothes on their backs.

One year later and Maui still needs us. The money you donate will help the displaced families of Lāhainā & Kula to get back on their feet and rise from the ashes. Whether you are from Hawai'i, have visited our island home, or are just learning about this from the news, we humbly ask for your kāko'o (support).

We've created this fundraiser in partnership with GoFundMe.org, our fiscal sponsor, to provide a single "take action" button. This fund is meant to support families who have shared their stories with us and to provide direct cash grants to the many displaced and in need of help to recovery .

Mahalo nui loa,

The Help Maui Rise Team

#HelpMauiRise

WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING

Starting April 8th, Help Maui Rise has started the Help Maui Rise fund where all donations will go directly to the families who have been approved via our application. We are collaborating with GoFundMe.org to take care of distributing the funds to each fundraiser fairly and on a regular basis.

Phase One Achievements:

Prior to April 8th, 2024, during Phase One of the Help Maui Rise Fund, we raised $777,113, exceeding our original goal by over seven times. With the assistance of GoFundMe.org, Help Maui Rise conducted 21 grant rounds, distributing $400 grants to 1,247 GoFundMe fundraisers on our list and $8-900 grants to 449 households from our Lowest Funded tab; a variation of our initial google sheet that sorts fundraisers from lowest to highest funded, prioritizing fundraisers in need of the most support to those with the lowest funding.

Current Phase Two:

As we enter Phase Two, we are rolling out an application to continue providing direct aid to those impacted by the Maui wildfires. Our priority is to maintain transparency and provide cash assistance while adhering to charitable granting guidelines.

Who Qualifies for Grants:

Proof of Displacement: Applicants must provide proof of displacement due to the wildfires.
Income Consideration: We prioritize households with incomes up to 300% of the federal HHS poverty level for Hawai'i. This means families with incomes up to three times the federal poverty level are given priority to account for Hawai'i's high cost of living.
Receipt Agreement: Applicants must agree to provide receipts as they spend the grant funds.

We will distribute grants based on need stated by the applicant and available funds, with initial grants of up to $1,000 per family and potential additional grants of up to $11,000 as funds allow and as needs are assessed. Our goal is to support as many families as possible through transparent and fair grant allocation.

As we approve new applicants, we will allocate the funds raised regularly and update you as grants are issued to those who qualify.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

1. Donate. Anything helps, and your donation is tax-deductible in the US.

2. Share. If you're unable to donate, you can still help in a major way by sharing this link, the doc itself, and reposting our Instagram stories and posts from @helpmauirise.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to keep up the momentum of support for our community as long as possible. News coverage has faded, amplifying the voices of these families will fall back onto the shoulders of our community, on island and overseas, to not be forgotten.

MORE ABOUT GOFUNDME.ORG

GoFundMe.org is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 81-2279757) that works to swiftly mobilize donations for individuals and communities impacted by crises, natural disasters, and social inequalities. We accept tax-deductible donations from a global network of donors into funds created for a specific purpose. From these funds, we issue grants to individuals and nonprofits.

Donations to this fund are tax-deductible to the extent permissible by U.S. law. Money will be given to verified charitable needs at the discretion of GoFundMe.org.

MAHALO

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