Maui Family that Saved Us Needs Saving

Valeria and John Pollaccia recently saved my family during the Maui wildfires. Myself and 12 members of my family (ranging from age 6 to 70) were staying in a house in Lahaina. We had hired Val and John to make a couple of meals for the family while we enjoyed our vacation. Just a couple of days into the trip, mother nature began her assault on the island. First high winds knocked out the power - there was a full sized trampoline at the top of the power pole near our house. Then the devastating fires started - wiping out nearly the entire town of Lahaina in a matter of minutes. Residents and tourists were forced to leap into the ocean to escape the blaze that was moving through the town at over 40 miles per hour, engulfing iconic restaurants and shops as it went.

The house in which we were staying was spared, but was surrounded by the Lahaina fires a few miles to the south and the upcountry fires to the north. Val and John's home was not as lucky - it was completely destroyed, leaving the lot looking as if nothing had ever been there.

Lost in the fire, was all of their expensive cooking equipment, 100s of chairs and tables essential for catering jobs, and even their brand new deck that was home to all manner of organic vegetables and herbs used for meeting the dietary needs of clients. Both Val and John had secondary jobs - John was a carpenter - a trade that will likely be in high demand in the coming months and years as Maui struggles to rebuild. Unfortunately, his vast array of tools were lost to this tragedy as well. Even his prior role as professional surfer has been cut off as his collection of dozens of expensive surf boards is gone as well. He also lost his music studio and all of the equimpment - closing yet another door. Valeria's other sources of income have also been lost - she had over 10,000 bags for her chocolate dessert business (something that we were lucky enough to sample) that are now ash. She has also acted as a photographer for families and organizations but all of her camera equipment was lost as well.

We brought Val, John, and their two boys Lorenzo and Luca in to stay in our house. While we did not have power or cell service, and the water was becoming undrinkable - at least they had a place to stay. We were running low on usable food, as all of the perishable items had turned. Val and John went to the local market (the only store left standing that was accessible) and waited for 5 hours to buy whatever groceries they could. Instead of hoarding those groceries, they used them to make our whole family meals for days - despite now power/refrigeration. With no access to roads or knowledge of the area, we would have been in a much more dire situation.

With the speed of the fire, there was not time to save anything but themselves. They evacuated their home with essentially just the clothes on their backs. All of their belongings and memories went up in an instant. The boys' school was destroyed with no hope of reopening. When they were finally able to go back and look at the rubble, they found their neighbor, an elderly grandmother in a wheelchair, just sitting in the empty lot that used to be her home. They immediately brought her back to huddle with them as they figure out what to do next.

They will now have to find a new place to live and pay for private school to help keep the boys' lives moving. Their income is 100% tied to tourism - in a location that is unlikely to see new tourists for quite some time.

We are hoping that we can scrape together enough money to make a difference. Every bit helps. We truly believe that our family would have been lost without their help - and now that we are safe and able to move on with our lives - we want to do all we can to help them move on with theirs.

Please consider donating whatever you can.

Thank you,

The Schreiber Family