We were given the contact of a family whose house withstood the fires in Kula while all the neighbors’ houses burned around them. Their house is still standing but damaged by smoke and ash and due to the fires, they took in their family, but they’ve all been living at a hotel. Our task? Christmas extravaganza. We were able to buy Christmas presents for the whole family and household supplies and talk story with the family after we delivered the gifts. Unbeknownst to us before shopping, was that members of our team had separately played with the grandkids kids and talked story at church with the parents on Sunday!!!  How awesome is our God??

A second portion of our team worked with Kukui at 

Kāko’o Maui Relief and Aid Services. Some of us worked in the resources center and some of us in the distribution center just helping to support the local community members who have been working to help fire victims for months. We helped inventory donations after they lost a large volunteer team that had been doing it for months (we got there 2 days after their other volunteers left), build cubicles in their office to help make work more organized and move stuff around their storage unit. Kukui later shared with us that her and a handful of her staff had lost everything in the fires as well - but of course they would be working to help others. She had a place to go after she lost everything, others still don’t have homes. 

She shared so much gratitude with us and said if we hadn’t helped, they didn’t have anyone else able to take on the task because everyone is stretched so thin right now. 

Praise God! What a joy to encourage the local community members!