I Never Wanted To Go To Hawaii.

I never wanted to go to Hawaii.

It just wasn’t on my radar.?I had this vision of flying for too long to go see a beach.?I live on the coast so what would be the allure? Pineapple on pizza? ?That’s sacrilege. My Italian forefathers would come back to haunt me. ?Pretty flowers and the Hula?

I was so wrong.?

Two years ago to the day, I spent two glorious weeks in Lahaina on Maui.?I recall taking the above photo on my last day there. I took two of my sons and my wife to visit extended family who had been encouraging us to come for multiple years.?It was their home for more than 30 years, going back and forth between their own family in New York and Lahaina.?The extended family was two sisters, Jan and Sue, and their husbands now in their seventies, that made an unbelievable home for themselves nestled on the side of a dormant volcano in the incredible town that is Lahaina. When I arrived, the pride of their community radiated us for the entire time we were there. ?They knew Hawaiian history and the history of Maui as though they were natives.?(The history of Hawaii itself is so unique, I strongly encourage to pick up James Michener’s 1959 classic called Hawaii.?The stories of their monarchy and the hundreds of living offspring who have claims to royalty are mind-blowing.)?

We explored every inch of Lahaina, met incredible people, shopped the stores, relaxed on the beach, and drove through the hills. ?We even went to a school that Jan supports to teach native Hawaiian dance to children of families in need. ?Talk about the majesty of an area.

This week’s events of the devastation of Lahaina is too much for me to process.?The images and video that social media and news outlets are delivering can create this horrible ambivalence and news fatigue that can force us to tune out.?The state of Lahaina’s people has yet to be fully realized. People will be displaced for a very long time and likely be forced to move away from the only home they have ever known. ?The rebuilding will take many years especially since construction elements and any tangential resources need to be procured and shipped. There are news stories reporting that despicable real estate robber barons praying on the weak, have already surfaced.

My message is this, if you’ve been to Hawaii then you know the feeling, we likely all have when thinking about what is happening there right now.?If you haven’t been, put it on your bucket list and I hope you acquire your own personal attachment to an amazing, tranquil, and beautiful place filled with wonderful people.?I’d like to provide some names of organizations that are directly supporting the ground efforts. These are recommended by many, many, websites, and news organizations and I have no affiliation with any of them. ?Perhaps one of them speaks to you.?My thanks for reading.?Aloha.

·??????The?Maui Strong Fund, run by the Hawai’i Community Foundation,?is accepting donations?for necessities like food, clothing and shelter for families who have lost their homes.

·??????The?American Red Cross of Hawaii?has 220 trained responders on the ground in Maui helping with search and rescue operations.?Donations to the Red Cross?are also providing shelter, food and emotional support. You can also donate to the Red Cross by calling 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669).

·??????Aloha United Way, a non-profit organization based in Honolulu, has set up?a dedicated fund for victims of the Maui wildfire.

·??????The Maui Food Bank?is?accepting donations?that will pay for meals provided to displaced residents in Maui.

·??????The?Maui Humane Society?is?seeking contributions?to fund care for pets displaced by the wildfire.

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