Pilina Relief Fund - Day 16 - Lahaina Strong
August 25, 2023
Aloha all,
The efforts continue.
As we flew into Kapalua airport again today I can’t help but notice there is very little traffic on the road to West Maui. I presume and hope that a fair amount of that is due to people wanting to be respectful and leave the roads open for West Maui residents and relief efforts. I also have to assume that many of the tourists who use that road have either returned home or relocated for the rest of their vacations. I can’t help but think that with so few vehicles it also means that supplies from the ground are slow in getting from the warehouses in Kahului (the valley of central Maui) to West Maui. Rarely do I hope I’m wrong about something but I pray I am about that.
Today I learned that hundreds who were displaced and in tents or shelters in West Maui have since been provided temporary housing in hotels or Airbnbs. That’s great news! I sure hope some of those folks are able to get solid nights of sleep and feel the comfort of a hot shower and warm bed. Sadly, I was also told that the temporary shelter in hotels will only go through the end of September. I saw a news report that the city of Honolulu lifted its short-term rental restrictions as it realized it had availability to house displaced Maui residents. I’m grateful those folks have some place to breathe and settle for a bit but it seems to me that the end of Sept. will come quickly. Hopefully, that allows time for Maui County and the other assistance organizations to figure out alternative living situations for people.
For our part, I know that today we were able to get aircraft loads of diapers, formula, food, water, and toiletries out. During the course of donation collections, Mauna Loa Helicopters and Paradise Helicopters received truckloads of pet food and supplies. Unfortunately, the sheer volume and weight of that makes it impossible to take on the size and quantity of small aircraft available. Fortunately, we learned that the wonderful folks at White Gloves Moving were willing to help and loaded up those truckloads today and will be getting it all directly into the hands of the Maui Humane Society, where I’m sure it’ll be enjoyed. Every day I hear of other organizations that have been helping in their own way. It feels wonderful to know that our Big Island community continues to spread aloha to Maui!
How can you help?
1. You can help keep us general aviators and small aviation companies flying by making monetary donations to the Pilina Relief Fund page. We continue to rack up significant avgas and jet fuel bills and can really use your help with collecting additional monetary donations.
2. The donation distribution hubs said their current needs are:
Can openers (a lot of non-perishable food has been donated but they don’t have enough can openers for that food),
5-gallon water bottles (many places in west Maui still don’t have safe drinking water. The water is being used to bathe with, cook with, and stay hydrated with so they are going through our water quickly. The 5-gallon bottles allow them to refill them once water refill stations are available),
Batteries (of all kinds but AA and AAA are very helpful to keep radios going)
Baby formula & bottles
Men’s & women’s undergarments (may I remind you that these should be new and not used ☺)
A few hand trucks/dollies (to assist the hubs with moving all of the supplies around at the airport and then at the hubs).
Pots/pans – People have been trucking propane to West Maui so some folks have the ability to cook but they can use pots & pans to do that. Your donations don’t need to be brand new but please ensure they are clean and sanitary.
Mauna Loa Helicopters and Paradise Helicopters will be accepting donations of the above-named items. They are located at the Kona airport commuter terminal. If you aren’t on the big island please feel free to reach out to Mokulele, your local flight schools, or anyone around the airports. I’d bet they know how your generous donations can make their way to the donation hubs. And if you want to know what hubs our donations are going to, they are listed on the Pilina Relief page. Please direct anyone you know in West Maui who can use a little something to go to any of those hubs.
3. Feel free to patronize some of the amazing organizations who are collaborating with us to help: Paradise Helicopters offers amazing tours around most of the major Hawaii Islands, Mauna Loa Helicopter School for those of you who want to learn to hover, Tropicbird Flight Services (fixed wing - that’s airplanes for the non-aviation folks - flight school) where I did my training and Mokulele Airlines (our local island hopper, for those of you not in Hawaii). I’m happy to add Pacific Flight Academy in Honolulu to the list of collaborators. A big mahalo to some local restaurants who have donated pilot meals: Willies Hot Chicken and Taylored Meals. We already all love Punaluu Bake Shop goods but remember to pick up another loaf next time you’re at the market. Same with Lone Palm…I love their alfalfa sprouts on my salads and sandwiches. Grab yourself a bag to support this wonderful farm! Hawaii Farming (grab your keiki cukes next time you’re at Costco) and the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council for always wanting to help feed Hawaii. And a continued mahalo to the Hawaii Food Basket for assisting us with the donation collection and for all of the wonderful work they do in feeding the people of Hawaii regardless of natural disasters!
For tax, I attached a photo of Maui from the helicopter deliveries we did on Sunday. We had passed Olowalu and were headed toward Kapalua. Maui is still stunning!
Hawaii Strong! Maui strong! Lahaina Strong!
Dana