Volunteers and donations do good for Maui

KAHULUI >> Rey and Elizabeth Arconado gave thanks on a recent Thursday for the Maui Distribution Center in Kahului, where volunteers filled their grocery cart with food and other items that were donated to support those who are in need from either the direct impacts of the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires or from the subsequent economic downturn.

The distribution center, which has opened in an old Safeway store at 170 E. Kamehameha St., aims to provide a shopping experience while distributing the food and goods that have been donated and are stored at the Maui Relief Storage Facility in Kakaako.

The Arconados were immediately greeted at the center by a volunteer, who went through a “pick list” of items that the couple might need and then went shopping through the center’s stock to fill their wish list. The Arconados left with rice and other staples for themselves and even diapers, toys and books to bring to their displaced grandbaby, who is now living with her family in a hotel.

The ability to have the means to be generous when they have so much need themselves has helped bring a return to normalcy for the Arconados, who have struggled in the aftermath of the Lahaina wildfire, which turned their home to ash and caused the death of family members and friends.

Rey Arconado still has a picture on his phone of the decimated home, which he inherited from his parents and lived in for 51 years before it was destroyed in the inferno that killed at least 100.

“I carry this with me all the time. We look at it sometimes to remind ourselves,” he said.

“It’s hard to look at it,” Elizabeth Arconado said, but she added that it helps ground the couple to their new reality.

They experienced housing difficulty and food scarcity in the immediate aftermath of the fire and, with all the uncertainty still in their lives, are grateful for the Maui distribution center and other places where they can go for support.

“We save some money. We get supplies like paper towels, toilet paper, water. My wife’s working place, Aina Nalu (resort), burnt down,” he said. “We are glad that there is this help for Lahaina, especially since we don’t know how long it’s going to be like this.”

The Arconados are among thousands of shoppers who have come through the Kahului distribution center — which is stocked with inventory from the Kakaako Donation Center on Oahu — which opened to make it easier for teams on the ground on Maui to get supplies to those who need it most.

Kahala Pratt, who runs the Maui Distribution Center and the Kakaako Donation Center, said the donation center opened Aug. 19 in a 30,000-square-foot warehouse previously used as a shelter at 200 Keawe St. in Hakuone at Kakaako Makai. The effort was part of a partnership among the state, the county, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which selected the Dudoit family-founded nonprofit Makana o ke Akua to manage donations and volunteers.

Pratt said she was formerly a vice president of a moving company, and had worked as a business consultant, but was in retirement when she responded to a call from the Dudoit family to assist CNHA in meeting Maui’s needs in a Herculean effort that spanned just days.

“We were moving so quickly. The first day that we opened on Maui, we distributed to 383 households, and we were only open for 360 minutes,” Pratt said.

Altogether, some 1,019,145 pounds of goods in containers from the donation center already have been delivered to Maui, and she said the first round of goods came from donations that were stacked at the state Capitol and then from the community and from around the world.

She said when a shipping tariff was lifted, she was able to send more containers to Maui, but since it was reinstated at the end of October, the availability of shipping dates for containers has slowed and she has to carefully prioritize the donations that she sends. She said donations also are slowing.

“Corporations want to give to natural disasters. If we don’t take it right away, they’ll give to the next one somewhere else,” Pratt said. “I feel like the emergency need part is wrapping up, but the next part is recovery.”

Still, Maui distribution center warehouse managers Tatiana Fraser and Keapo Bissen — Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s daughter — said they still see great need and feel gratified for the opportunity to respond to it.

“It’s been a blessing to play a small part in helping our community to get back on its feet,” Keapo Bissen said. “You could never imagine what any of these families are going through, but (it’s very fulfilling) to know that you can help take their minds off where they are going to get the simple everyday items that we may take for granted without having to worry about where it’s going to come from. I’m very appreciative that the families allow us to help and support them.”

The Kahului center is open to distribute free food and goods on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Kahului site is open for staff, and to receive donations, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Wednesdays and Sundays.

Fraser said about 300 to 350 shoppers are still coming through the Maui distribution center on Tuesdays. She said about 150 shoppers visit on Thursdays and Saturdays, which are limited to shoppers who were directly affected by the fires.

Fraser said that on Tuesdays the center also allows anyone in the community to shop, although four affected shoppers are allowed to enter for every unaffected shopper. Affected shoppers also get preference on high-demand items like water and toilet paper.

“Many in our community are struggling,” Fraser said. “Everybody is feeling the need all over because of the downturn. Anybody who feels that they need help should come here. We are telling people, ‘If you have a grocery list, come here before you go to the grocery store.’”

Fraser said some Kahului families have opened their homes to those whose homes were lost or damaged.

“We have this one family that she is housing seven other families,” she said. “When she found out about us, she was asking for all these things. She has a small home but she is helping seven families. Before, she had three dogs; now she has 2o dogs and 25 cats. We gave her cat food and dog food and shared that the Humane Society also is giving out.”

Fraser said the distribution center recognizes that everyone who comes to shop is in a different place, and has told the AmeriCorps volunteers working on filling their “pick lists” to look for ways to help supply them with items that will help them move forward.

Rhody Soria, incident commander for AmeriCorps for the Maui fires, said the national program responded to calls for assistance from FEMA and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and now has 30 volunteers working at the distribution center as shoppers or helping to organize inventory, and has had volunteers working on Oahu, too.

“Each disaster has its own particular needs, and each situation can vary from time to time. It’s heartbreaking, of course, and our desire is to help when we can,” he said.

Ethan Gilles, a 22-year-old corps member from Mankato, Minn., said the experience has given back as much as he has given.

“I’ve learned not to take life for granted,” Gilles said. “Anytime I’m upset, I realize that my stomach is full and there are many things to be grateful for.”