Maui Wildfire Relief & Recovery

In August 2023, Peace Winds began our Maui wildfire fundraising drive with the intention of alleviating some of the hardship that wildfire survivors experienced after the disaster. Although the recovery process on Maui is far from over, the need for emergency fundraising has passed, and we will be closing this particular campaign on February 28, 2025. 

Thanks to the generosity of donors in the United States via GlobalGiving and in Japan through other platforms, Peace Winds was able to step in and provide immediate aid in the days and weeks after the fires struck Maui. Our staff worked alongside local partners to distribute emergency relief supplies, including food, water, hygiene items, and baby goods, at evacuation shelters. Staff also distributed in-kind donations for wildfire-affected pets and pet owners, such as pet food, treats, leashes, and carriers.

In the months that followed, with more than $700,000 from donors in the US, Japan, and around the world, Peace Winds shifted its focus from short-term relief to long-term recovery. We began partnerships with local Hawaiian organizations that have provided legal counseling, grief care, food and supplies distribution, and support for homeless pets. Your donations have helped Peace Winds support the following initiatives: 

• Roots Reborn addresses the needs of Maui’s immigrant community, which often go overlooked after disasters like this. The group hosts educational community events, offers legal counseling, and helps residents navigate recovery programs in their native language. Funds from Peace Winds supported the hiring of a new immigration attorney to assist workers and families who lost jobs, homes, and more in the fires.
• Na Keiki O Emalia worked with trauma survivors to offer support groups, age-appropriate children’s books about grief, daycare spaces, and community events with psychosocial support resources. To make these activities possible, NKOE provided facilitator training for staff and volunteers.
• Hospice Maui is a hospice center that offers grief support. Peace Winds funded workshops on trauma-informed care and self-care for counselors, social workers, teachers, hospital staff, and others who work tirelessly to support fellow wildfire survivors. 
• Hawaii Animal Rescue Foundation housed pets after the fires and reunited missing animals with their families. Peace Winds contributed to the high cost of vet care and provided the shelter with some of the supplies it needed most after the disaster, including pet food and high-quality dog beds.
• The Hawaii Red Cross supported wildfire survivors through food distribution, shelter and hotel assistance, and recovery services including direct financial assistance. Peace Winds worked alongside Red Cross staff and volunteers to distribute much needed supplies shortly after the fires, and it also provided financial support.

Though we are closing this particular fundraiser, we will continue to aid Maui’s fire survivors as they navigate the recovery process. Peace Winds is currently working in partnership with Family Life Center (FLC) with Japanese government funding. FLC is a housing-focused nonprofit that runs Ohana Hope Village, a temporary housing community for Maui residents who lost their homes. Peace Winds is building a playground and community space there, as well as providing grief care and counseling workshops to FLC employees.

We cannot overstate how much your generosity meant to us in those first crucial months as we worked to bring emergency relief to those in need. If you would like to support Peace Winds’ work for individuals displaced by disasters, war, and crises in other parts of the world – whether Syrian refugees, children fleeing war in Burma, Haitian communities, or Los Angeles fire survivors – please check out our other GlobalGiving projects as well as our website. We will continue to bring updates from Maui through our newsletters and on our blog, so please consider signing up to receive updates to ensure you don’t miss out on future reports. Thank you again for the support you have shown Peace Winds and the Maui community.