August 18, 2023 updates from Maui Coastal Clubs Assistant Governor Al Weiland
I was at the Queen K Sears parking lot yesterday, along with Mike Luque from Upcountry and Tony Krieg from Kahului Clubs. War Memorial is not taking donations and moved their semi-trailers of goods and clothes to Queen K. The Red Cross and volunteers were there in force, and the line of cars to pick up necessary items was long all day. They will accept donations, particularly food, water and protein sources. They do not want clothes, as there are trailers full of clothes that haven't been unloaded.
If you wish to donate, or volunteer, just go. The need is enormous.
Sears parking lot at the Queen Kaahumanu Center | August 15-19 from 8am until 4pm
The South Maui Park Gym also has a donation and pick-up center and could use volunteers. Much quieter there, but could still use help. See Kalani or Amanda there. The shelter there today has half the number of people as yesterday as they are being placed in hotels. HHS is on-site to do the placement.
The Hawaiʻi Rotary District Foundation has created an advisory group to help prioritize use of the funds in the emergency relief fund. Maui is well represented with Wendy Hornack, Mariko Higashi, Joe Park from the Lahaina Club, Joanne Laird from Lahaina Sunset and myself on the group. The first distribution will be gas cards through Maui Oil, and that will start on Monday.
We have gotten offers of containers of emergency supplies, and have held off until there was a clear way to accept and distribute those supplies. I have worked with the South Maui Disaster Relief group which will help with the logistics at the port, and connect with the distribution organizations. If you have contacts who would like to send containers of emergency supplies, let me know.
School supplies are an issue for the kids who are being displaced to different schools. Joanne Laird has contacts with the school district administration and will help identify needs. I met with the Pastor at Kihei Lutheran yesterday, and they are also doing a school supply drive. Our club may coordinate our efforts with them.
Stay updated at RotaryD5000.org/MauiRelief