The Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) has announced that its Maui Strong Fund has raised more than $66.1 million and distributed more than $9.2 million in emergency funds to local organizations in response to the August wildfires that burned more than 10 square miles on the Hawai‘ian island of Maui, where at least 115 people have died and nearly 3,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

Grants to HCF include $1 million from Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, who also awarded $1 million grants to seven other groups, including ‘Āina Momona, Council for Native Hawai‘ian Advancement (CANA), GlobalGiving, Hawai‘i People’s Fund, Maui Food Bank, Maui Humane Society, and World Central Kitchen. Blackstone, an investment management company, has contributed $1.5 million, including $500,000 to HCF and Maui Food Bank. In addition, All Within My Hands, a public charity established by the heavy metal band Metallica, has awarded $200,000 to HCF.

CANA announced that its Kākoʻo Maui Fund, which has raised $3.2 million, will have those funds matched up to $3 million by 25 local and national funders and corporations, including Hawai‘i Pacific Foundation, Liliʻuokalani Trust, the Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska Airlines, Eli Lilly, and Amazon.

Maui United Way, which announced a program to provide $1,000 in emergency assistance for Maui residents affected by the wildfire, has received between 6,000 and 7,000 applications to date.

The 12 major-league sports teams in Los Angeles, many of which have training camps in Hawai‘i, have together donated $450,000. Moreover, the NBA’s LA Clippers and Utah Jazz plan to donate the proceeds of their first pre-season game in support of disaster recovery.

Several retailers have made contributions, including grocery chains Kroger and the Kroger Foundation ($100,000 to the Maui Food Bank) and H-E-B ($100,000 and 23 pallets of products to the Hawai‘i Food Bank), and the pharmacy chain Walgreens ($100,000 to HCF and $25,000 in products to the American Red Cross).

American Airlines customers have donated 12 million awards miles, worth $1.2 million, which the airline will direct to the American Red Cross. Nexstar Media Group, operator of the local KHON2 television station in Honolulu, has raised more than $1.2 million for the Red Cross of Hawai‘i, which has provided more than 18,400 overnight stays in shelters and more than 103,000 meals and snacks and deployed more than 500 disaster workers at 12 emergency shelters on Maui and Oahu.

The state response to the wildfire is being paid for by $30 million from a discretionary fund authorized by Hawai‘i governor Josh Green. The Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency is coordinating the work of 500 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ground personnel and an additional 470 search and rescue specialists, 556 Hawai'i National Guard members, and 390 Red Cross workers. The federal government has approved $12 million in assistance to more than 3,300 households to date, including $5 million in rental assistance and $1.3 million to address gaps in local and state emergency shelter efforts.

Organizations that have also established funds for Maui wildfire disaster relief include the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, the Council for Native Hawai‘ian Advancement, Global Giving, Maui United Way, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the Jewish Federations of North America, and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

(Photo credit: Wikimedia/FEMA/Alexis Hall)