Category Archives: maui

Maui Wildfires: A Local’s List of How to Help

🔥 The 2023 Maui wildfires have laid waste to the paradisiacal memories many hold dear. Lahaina is leveled, homes lost, businesses shattered, and the toll keeps rising. Remember that blissful Hawaiian sunset, the melody of island tunes, and the scent of blooming plumeria? Now, it’s our time to return the favor.

🌺 How Can You Give Back?

Donate Financially to Maui Wildfires Disaster Efforts

Many organizations are doing great work on the ground to provide relief from the Maui wildfires. They need cash, lots, and fast, including:

  1. Hawaii Community Foundation: Donate to the Maui Strong Fund.
  2. Hawaii Red Cross: Donate for the Maui Wildfires disaster relief.
  3. Maui Food Bank: Donate to provide food and turn $1 into 4 meals.
  4. Maui Humane Society: Donate here to help pets lost and abandoned due to the Maui wildfires. UPDATE: MHS is currently inundated with many burn victims and animals with broken limbs after jumping from heights or being hit by fleeing cars. Cash donations support emergency medical care.
  5. Salvation Army Hawaii Division: Donate here to provide boxed meals to people displaced by the Maui wildfires.
  6. Maui United Way: Donate to the Fire Disaster Relief Fund.

Donate Items for Maui Wildfires Relief

  1. Hawaii Red Cross: Donate a vehicle (to be sold for cash, not shipped).
  2. Maui Goodwill: Donate diapers, menstrual products, new bedding, and clothing
  3. Maui Humane Society: Donate pet food, beds, towels, and blankets –
  4. On-Island Donations: Items are accepted at the War Memorial Complex from 8 am to 6 pm HST. Enter the complex through Kanaloa Ave and drop off donations at the field on the left. What is needed most:
    • Menstrual pads (heavy with wings)
    • Urinary incontinence pads
    • Diapers size 5/6 (large) and pulls-ups in 2/3T and 3/4T
    • Ensure and other meal replacement drinks.
Lahaina Front Street after the 2023 fire

Volunteer Your Time from Afar to Help People Impacted by the Maui Wildfires

Local volunteers: If you are already on the island, volunteers are needed at the Maui Mayor’s distribution sites and all of the above organizations to help prepare meals and distribute relief. If you are local on Maui, please kokua your time and mahalo!

Mainland volunteers: If you are on the Mainland or in another country, the best way to donate your time is to help fundraise for these organizations doing great work on the ground. Here are some of the ways you can help:

  1. Initiate a social media awareness campaign: Share, post, tweet. Let everyone know Maui needs our help. Start a conversation by sharing this post.
  2. Organize collections of new items in your vicinity, such as diapers, blankets, and pillows, and ship them to Maui’s aid organizations listed above.

⚠️ A Gentle Reminder: As much as your heart might yearn to be physically present, please refrain from flying to Maui. Let’s assist without adding to the strain.

The spirit of Aloha is about community, about togetherness. The island culture has always cherished humanity over material. As wildfires ravage through, it is our collective strength and generosity that will pave the path to healing.

One of the things I love so much about island culture is that people are more important than things. In shocking times like these, after devastating wildfires, people helping people is what allows us to survive and rebuild.

🌈 Let’s embody the Aloha spirit. Stand with Maui. Donate, spread the word, and give generously.

Hawaii Snow Sets Record, Falling at 6,200 Feet

Does it ever snow in Hawaii? Yes and often, but only atop the tallest volcanic mountains. Snow in February 2019 set a record, not for the amount of snow. Instead, the record was for snow at the lowest elevation.

Heavy winter storms in the Pacific often dump snow in Hawaii, specifically, atop the summits of Haleakala (about 10,000 feet) and Mauna Kea (about 14,000 feet). However, Hawaii does not have any ski resorts. Likewise, snow does not fall at the beach.

Meanwhile, residents tracking Hawaii snow have posted many photos and videos on social media. Maui resident, Momi Fortune of Haiku, pulled over to photograph the white peak of Haleakala summit. She snapped the photo attached to this post on February 11, 2019.

Historic Snowfall on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii. Photo Credit: Momi Fortune

Historic Snowfall

Likewise, Lisa Walsh, a resident of Kula described the February 2019 storm, “This is the most snow I’ve ever seen on Haleakala summit in the 30 years that I’ve lived on Maui. There is snow down below Polipoli State Park [elevation 6,200 feet], which never happens.”

Furthermore, some experts at Weather.com say that this may be the first snow in Hawaii ever recorded below 6,200 feet in the lower parts of Polipoli state park. SFGate.com reported a similar story about the lowest-ever elevation recorded.

In contrast, snow is more common atop the volcanic mountain summits, where the elevation is much higher. Haleakala summit on Maui and Mauna Kea summit on Hawaii island typically received 3-6 dustings of snow each winter.

Playing in the Snow

Another effect of Hawaii snow is that it attracts people to the volcanic summits to play. Popular snow activities in Hawaii include: Snowboarding, skiing, sledding, and hiking. However, many Hawaii residents lack experience with snow and could get injured or damage precious habitat. For example, people who drive to the summit without a 4WD vehicle are likely to get stuck in the muck.

Further, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported on February 7, 2019, an incident on Mauna Kea where snowboarders didn’t get hurt. Instead, they damaged a cultural site and endangered habitat.

Finally, learn more about snow in Hawaii from an article entitled “Poli’ahu’s Gift” that I wrote for Hana Hou!. You can also read more about previous reporting on snow storms in Hawaii at the links below:

Hawaii Travel Guide Review

Hawaii-Revealed-travel-guidebooksAndrew Doughty has written a series of highly controversial guidebooks to each major island under the title “Hawaii Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook. The series is a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. His most recent update to the series was 2013.

The Books

Hawaii The Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebookdetails sites around Hawaii island (aka The Big Island), including the major cities of Kona and Hilo, Mauna Kea and Volcano National Park. He includes many off-the-beaten path sites that are highly controversial with local people.

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed
details sites around Kauai island, including the cities of Lihue and Hanalei, Waimea Canyon State Park and the Na Pali Coast Trail. He includes many off-the-beaten path sites that are highly controversial with local people.

Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook
details sites around Maui island, including the cities of Kihei, Ka’anapali and Hana and Haleakala National Park. He includes many off-the-beaten path sites that are highly controversial with local people.

Oahu Revealed: The Ultimate Guide to Honolulu, Waikiki & Beyond (Oahu Revisited)
details sites around O’ahu island, including the cities of Honolulu, Kailua and Haleiwa and the Pearl Harbor Memorial and Punchbowl Cemetery. He covers O’ahu’s many hiking trails and vibrant culinary scene, and his app has the most up-to-date restaurant information.

The Controversy

What makes these guidebooks controversial is Doughty’s revelation to outsiders of places cherished by locals. Many of these places, such as Blue Pool on Maui, are highly fragile ecosystems not maintained by the state or the county, and thus, locals are not equipped to deal with the environmental damage that crowds of visitors unwittingly bring. Many of the places named in Doughty’s original set of guidebooks have been formally closed or fenced off because of severe harm to native plants and animals caused by trampling from visitor’s shoes and contamination from body products.

At least one community near Hana on Maui has become so outraged by the visitor traffic that they banned him from ever again visiting the area.