There was never doubt before the Lahaina fires whether our Maui community would step up in the face of a disaster.

Like no other!

We’re so fortunate to have a people raised from birth to respect the ‘āina and care about ohana, and we’re grateful for transplants that have adopted the same community values.

Since day one, it’s been our people and local businesses volunteering our time, energy, money, and resources to help the survivors of these fires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui.  Whether you agree that mainland organizations and government agencies have since helped is irrelevant.  OUR LOCALS have been key to our island moving forward.

We’d like to honor a few organizations that have stepped up in many ways.  This will likely be an ongoing series shared as we learn about all the different groups working towards Maui’s recovery.  There are so many of you building new non-profits, working within existing organizations, and just helping out when time allows.  We literally get choked up each time we learn of new selflessness from our people.  And since most of them won’t toot their own horn, we’ll do it here for them.

Ali’i Resorts, Trilogy, Maui Brewing Co., WeR3DMaui, Maui Surfer Girls

Ali’i Resorts has been coordinating monetary donations, personally taking in displaced residents, assisting in placing houseless residents, volunteering, donating, and delivering supplies to the west side. Ali’i Resorts has also partnered with Maui Brewing Company, Trilogy Excursions, Maui Surfer Girls, and WeR3DMaui to deliver supplies to distribution hubs as well as directly to affected people.  Trilogy’s employees, owners, and businesses suffered some of the biggest losses in Lahaina with homes, headquarters, restaurant, and a boat taken by the fire.  They work every day to ensure the safety and future of Maui’s ohana.

Kai Kanani, Four Seasons Wailea, Destinations Hawaii

We’ve personally been fortunate to help out in many different ways since the beginning.  Before the roads had opened up, we traveled with Kai Kanani to deliver supplies to those cut off on the west side.  Four Seasons Wailea and Destinations Hawaii were among those helping deliver as well as donating supplies.  Kai Kanani has run many supply runs to the west side and helped in countless ways.

We learned from Destinations Hawaii about all the efforts they’ve made to restore cell service, deliver supplies, and house the displaced.  We also learned from the Four Seasons Wailea that they were housing 1st responders like the National Guard, taking in and donating supplies, donating monetarily, and delivering their own supplies to the affected people of West Maui.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  These organizations have been doing much more than this, and they rarely share it.

Let us know in comments about other people, businesses, and organizations that have been pivotal to Maui’s recovery.

We’ll continue to build and share these posts.  Also, don’t forget to donate to Maui!