Maui Fires: Where We Are Giving Our Money
As many of you know, our family has spent a great deal of time in Maui over the past couple of decades. We spend most of our time in Kihei, but often visit Lahaiana.
As awareness has grown for all of us regarding sovereignty and the struggles of local communities, we have done our best to do no harm when we are there. That said, the recent fires and the destruction of Lahaina have shown the impact that can come about after decades of exploitation of people and resources. Many locals are rightly calling for, those of us — individuals, organizations, and corporations — who have taken advantage of what the land and people have offered must now step up and put more of our money where our feet have stood.
Thank you for supporting the Maui Fire relief efforts. Please share with others who may be looking for places to give.
After seeing images of the town burned to the ground, it is often hard to know how and where to help. I claim no expertise, only time to do a little digging, so I offer you a few places where we have given our money and social amplification. Also, ignore the whataboutism that you will see popping up in some of the comments. I am amazed at the extent we humans will twist ourselves in knots in order to shirk responsibility and accountability.
Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Actions (HAPA) has shared some vetted resource lists as has anuheanihipalii, but here is where we have given our money.
Maui Mutual Aid via Paypal
We donated to five drives from the Maui Wildfires GoFundMe List, but if you need ones that we have a connection to through friends or personal connections:
The Castillo Family (Maui connection)
Aunty Lani Cabanilla (Relative of a friend)
Here is a spreadsheet of many ways to give. It’s overwhelming but gives some understanding as to the breadth of trauma, damage, and loss inflicted upon the community.
more to come
Who to follow on Instagram. There are many more to follow if you follow these accounts below and check out their stories and posts.
- lahainaunderground // local artist who is giving some firsthand accounts
- anuheanihipalii // local activist who is sharing some good info
- ainamomona // local organization provided great information
- kakoo_haleakala // another local organization provided great information
Please feel free to comment with any links to information, fundraisers, or organizations that you believe would be helpful to include.
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