Maui Still Needs Your Support!

It seems unthinkable to blog about anything related to Hawaiʻi real estate. We are all still heartbroken over the devastating fires on Maui and the loss of life, homes and livelihoods. And we can and will do whatever we can to support our ʻohana on Maui, well after the national media attention has moved on.

There is still a sense of urgency here in Hawaiʻi. Please keep reading and please keep choosing to give.

Sunset from the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort when I visited last January. The condo owner reached out to past guests to ask for donation for his housekeeper who lost her home. That was an easy “yes.”

Musicians and Communities Rally Over the Weekend to Raise Funds for Maui Relief

Do you love Hawaiian music? Our performing artists are some of the most generous members of our island communities, and they have been contributing their talents to lift our spirits and raise money in solidarity for those affected on Maui. Over the weekend I watched live streams of three benefit concert events, which collectively raised almost $800,000 for relief efforts. Here are links to watch the concerts and donate to the cause:

Wiwoʻole Maui Benefit Concert August 19, 2023

The first event was held Saturday afternoon at the Grand Wailea on Maui, featuring Maui-based musicians like Amy Hanaialiʻi and Kalani Peʻa and competition-winning hula halau. The livestream of the Wiwoʻole Maui Benefit Concert can be found here on the ʻAina Momona website. To donate and help them reach their $100,000 goal, click here.

Here on the Big Island, our fabulous musicians from Waimea and Kohala, most of them winners of multiple Hawaiian Academy of Music Na Hoku Hanohano awards, took the stage in the Parker Ranch Shopping Center. The all-day event was live streamed on Kahilu.tv – and excerpts from it played throughout the broadcast of the Maui Ola benefit concert held on the lawn of the Bishop Museum on Oʻahu later in the evening.  They accepted supply donations as well as monetary ones at the event, loading everything from baby formula to dog food to be shipped over.

Paula Fuga performs with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra at the Maui Ola Benefit Concert

Not only was there a stellar group of Hawaiʻian musicians performing Sunday night, the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra also donated their time and talent. Every major television station and multiple island radio station covered the event, a remarkable display of solidarity. Over $750,000 was raised, with donations coming in from around the world (there is a Japanese language donation link on the Maui Ola website. If you would like to watch the recording, here is a link to the concert on the ʻOiwi TV YouTube Channel. Donors could choose to give through their choice of four major donation portals: Maui United Way, Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Hawaiʻi People’s Fund and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

Hawaiʻi Life Charitable Fund and Hawaii Community Foundationʻs Maui Strong Fund – Where Does the Money Go?

One of the most uplifting moments for me in the Waimea concert was when our local Waimea representative for Hawaii Community Foundation stood up with a report. Since the start of the campaign to contribute to the Maui Strong Fund up through last Friday, a total of over $52 million has been raised. Over $5 million has been donated to recipients on the ground so far. The fundraising need continues, as Hawaii Community Foundation is committed to meeting needs four weeks, four months or four years from now.

Recipients to date range from $5,000 grants to Blue Water Rafting and Maui Reef Adventures to deliver supplies by water to affected communities by water to $250,000 grants to larger organizations including Maui Food Bank, Mauliola Pharmacy, and Imua Family Services.

For the latest on the Maui Strong Fund and recipients, here is a link to their webpage.

You can still donate to the Maui Strong Fund via Hawaiʻi Life by clicking here.

Whatʻs the “Best” Way to Contribute?

The large charitable organizations are secure, and have connections on the ground to get the money to where the need is greatest and will be there for the long haul. If you have a particular affinity or passion for your charitable giving, you can direct your funds to a Maui-based organization focused on that particular need.

After making my initial donation to Maui Strong via the Hawaiʻi Life Charitable Fund, I decided to give $100 each day to a smaller effort, something that felt really personal. Here are a few of my choices if you want to join me:

• A friend and fellow agent here on the Big Island got her pilots license last year and has been working with other pilots and aviation companies to fly grassroots donated goods to West Maui. Here is a link to donate to the Pilina Relief Fund.
• My landlady when I lived in Kula, Maui in the late ʻ90s has been the Director at Punana Leo o Maui, the Hawaiian language preschool, for 30 years. Their sister school in Lahaina was destroyed and many teachers lost their homes. You can donate to support Punana Leo o Lahaina here.
• I really enjoy author Toby Nealʻs mystery novels (and her autobiography) set in Hawaiʻi. Several of those books are set in Lahaina. Besides donating the proceeds of sales of those books (her post to find them here), she and her sister have a small non-profit for school supplies – and in case you did not know, our school year in Hawaiʻi started the week of the fires, disrupting the start of school on both Maui and the Big Island.
• Of course I have also donated to family of friends via personal VENMO links, but unless you get a link directly from someone you know, please beware of scams. I did get a personal message from the owner of the last condo I rented in Lahaina asking for support for his housekeeper who had lost her home. That one was a no-brainer.

One final idea. It still feels like summer, but the end of the year and the holidays will be here before we know it. Please consider having a conversation with your family now about foregoing holiday gifts and instead donating what you would have spent to make the holidays a bit easier for families who have lost everything in the Maui fires.