Maui residents fill philanthropic gaps while aid makes the long journey to the fire-stricken island
Nonprofits and volunteers in Maui have cobbled together countless improvised and urgent solutions since the deadliest wildfire in over a century hit their community
After learning that 100 pounds of insulin was stuck, grounded last week at Kona International Airport on the big island, volunteers at Maui Brewing Company, Hawaii’s largest craft brewery, got to work. They spent several hours trying to link health officials with a general aviation pilot who could complete the medical delivery to their community.
Kami Irwin, who runs a military nonprofit, was frustrated that it fell to volunteers like her to secure such a vital resource.
“The fact that I’m just a normal civilian that is trying to help the community along with everyone else here and we were able to make that happen?” Irwin said. “It doesn’t look good.”
Irwin has been coordinating donation pickup out of the brewery’s tasting room, taking advantage of what the tight community calls “coconut wireless,” informal communication chains that spread information like a game of “telephone.”
“We will be OK if us residents keep building together,” she added.
Volunteers on Maui have cobbled together countless improvised, urgent solutions like the insulin shipment in response to the country’s deadliest wildfire in over a century, which has killed more than 100 people and displaced thousands. Nonprofit groups struggle to deliver aid to the second-farthest state from the U.S. mainland, while mutual aid groups and local businesses help fill the cracks.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first disaster recovery center on Maui on Wednesday, the same day traffic resumed on a major road. In the initial days following the fire, officials scrambled to house thousands
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