Lahaina Fires - Our family, relatives & friends

Please extend as much Aloha as you can to Lahaina Maui! As a collective, let's maintain hope for the safety of everyone enduring this tumultuous period.

The objective of this GoFundMe campaign is to assist our relatives/friends/everyone within our ohana network to keep paying it forward to assist.

Given the uncertainty surrounding how donations to local charities will be allocated and the potential delay in supply distribution, we've initiated this GoFundMe so we can directly send through Venmo, Zelle, or E-transfer once funds are available.

This rapid response approach aims to help dozens of families and their friends (whoever needs help) to reduce the burden and help address essential needs like clothing, water, food, toilet paper, diapers, generators, fuel, ongoing bills, mortgage payments, HOA fees and the rest of life's ongoing financial obligations that don't stop when disaster consumes.

The list will grow but it will directly be sent to the following families or - Kai, Jake, Allison, Natalie, Atar, Kristy, Migel, Kaile, Alisha, Nic, Caleb, Dylan, Brandon, Cami, Nicole, Annie, Joyce, Mei Lan, Cynthia and more.

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Writing this is truly heart-wrenching, as it's a painful reflection of the complete devastation that has struck our family where we lost our beloved home, some of our relative's homes and our all awesome friends who as well lost everything they have there. Then it spreads to our neighbours, their neighbours and the entire community of Lahaina Town.

Thankfully, our Uncle and Aunt's home has been spared and currently providing refuge for multiple families with the expectation of even more seeking shelter.

We consider ourselves blessed, recognizing that many others have suffered even more. There's an entirely different layer of grief for those who lost family members on top of everything else – a cascade of sorrow upon sorrow. The tears, the anxiety, the weight of reality – it's nearly overwhelming to bear.

In case you haven't caught wind of the news, the Town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii faced an unprecedented wildfire on August 8th, 2023 after hurricane Dora passed south. The aftermath continues to wreak havoc, affecting everyone physically, emotionally, and financial levels.

The destruction has ravaged Lahaina Town. Everything has been wiped out, every home for miles around, heritage buildings spanning nearly two centuries – reduced to ashes in hours. The unthinkable death toll keeps climbing daily. It's a reality that defies belief, a visual only comprehensible through photos and videos. The scale of destruction and its impact on families and lives is truly inconceivable.

Amidst the lack of power, Wi-Fi, contaminated water, and severely limited cell reception, information is trickling in/out slowly. While there's a strong hope that the casualty count won't rise anymore, concerns are growing that this might be just the beginning. Reports detail harrowing accounts of people forced to leap into the water to evade the flames, only to meet a watery grave, while others attempting to flee in vehicles were overtaken by the fire. The scenes seem lifted from an apocalyptic movie.

The ordeal is far from over and the road to recovery will likely span years, if not more.

With gratitude - Mahalo

Jason, Ginger, Koa, and Autumn, Our Relatives, Our Friends of Lahaina Town