The devastating fires that ravaged Maui last week have the world watching in horror, including the Hawaiian Islands’ wealthy homeowners, many of whom have responded quickly.
Donations and calls for support have come from the likes of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and actors Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Jason Momoa. TV personality Oprah Winfrey, who has been on the ground in shelters and owns a 1,000-acre estate on the island, has pledged a significant donation. And while donations are intended to help residents in immediate need, local organizations plan for long-term recovery.
According to the Wall Street Journal, at least 110 people have died in what was the deadliest wildfire in the United States. As first responders continue to search for survivors, damage is estimated at $5 billion. The historic city of Lahaina, a former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom of 12,000 people and a popular tourist destination, was destroyed.
Meanwhile, well-established organizations in Hawaii are working with trusted partners to help victims as quickly as possible. According to Sheila Sarhangi, a spokeswoman for the Hawai’i Community Foundation, a Honolulu-based nonprofit that has served the state since 1916, the survivors remain homeless and lack basic needs.
“We’re still in rapid response and recovery mode,” she says. “This looks like shelter, food, financial support, internet, showers, electricity, pet care, diapers. You know, it’s just basic needs to make sure people are safe and taken care of. Everything you need to live your life every day.”
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The foundation activated its Maui Strong Fund immediately after the fires and, as of Wednesday, had raised nearly $35 million in 125,000 large and small transactions, Sarhangi said. Donors from around 40 countries have donated, and anchor donations have come from local businesses such as Hawai’i Life Real Estate, the Cooke Foundation, and the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Arts, Culture, and Design, a Doris Duke Foundation center in Honolulu.
Given the foundation’s long presence in the state, it has a roster of verified partners and has already awarded $5 million, Sarhangi adds. Funds went to local branches of well-known organizations like the Red Cross and United Way, as well as Arc of Maui County, which supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and Aloha Diaper Bank, according to their website.
The process of onboarding new organizations was streamlined during the disaster and 100% of proceeds go directly to community relief. As soon as the basic needs of the residents are met, the upswing moves on to the next phase: the search for housing for the displaced. It is still unclear how many people that will be.
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To that end, the Hawai’i Community Foundation is working with Maui Economic Opportunity, a local non-profit organization, to secure transitional housing for up to a year for those in need.
“They will receive a grant of over $3 million to ensure people who have lost their homes can get longer-term housing,” says Sarhangi. “They have contacts with rental opportunities on the island – this is work they are already doing and so they will mobilize support for these families.”
In addition, Airbnb has pledged to “provide free, temporary housing to at least 1,000 people displaced by the Maui wildfires,” the company said this week. It said it worked directly with Gov. Josh Green’s office to coordinate the effort.
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“We are so incredibly grateful for the tremendous community support for Maui, who are offering their properties to house those hardest hit by the Maui fires,” Green said in a statement. “This is aloha in action.”
Several prominent Hawaii residents have also pledged significant sums to support the recovery effort. That includes the creation of a $100 million Maui fund by Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, who paid $78 million for a secluded 14-acre Maui estate in 2021.
“The immediate needs are important, as is the longer-term recovery that needs to happen,” Sanchez, the vice chairman of Bezos’ EarthFund, said on social media earlier this week. The fund will “help Maui get back on its feet now and in the years to come as continued needs emerge.”
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Sanchez officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Hawai’i Community Foundation is also poised for a long recovery, Sarhangi says, adding that the roots of many Lahaina residents stretch back several generations. Economic recovery and community rebuilding are among the foundation’s long-term goals, but the need is “unprecedented.”
“We’re really proud of the support,” says Sahangi. “Maui is a very special place. If you have been there before you can feel the Āina or land and understand what aloha is because you feel it from the people there. What we see is people from all over the world who have been to Hawaii and want to support Maui because they understand what’s going on there and want to come back.”
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