Filipino resource fair planned for Sept. 23 at Lahaina Civic Center

A Filipino resource fair called “Hawak Kamay” (Hand-in-hand) is planned for Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lahaina Civic Center for individuals and families affected by the recent wildfires. The Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce and Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi are coordinating the effort.

Recognizing the need for familiarity and to build trust for the large Filipino community affected by the wildfires, the purpose of the resource fair is to provide a safe and comfortable venue to give and receive support.

The Philippine Consulate of Honolulu also scheduled an outreach event on Sept. 22, 23 and 24 at the same venue to replace lost documents such as passports.

Spanish- and Filipino-speaking individuals seeking to report missing people from the Lahaina wildfire can receive assistance from Maui Economic Opportunity language specialists from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7 at the Family Assistance Center at the Hyatt Regency Monarch Ballroom in Kāʻanapali. 

“We understand the massive scale of the profound losses our community is going through so we want to give our best effort to reach out and remind families that we are here for them,” said Dominic Suguitan, president of the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce. “We also recognize that everyone grieves and heals at a different pace, so we want to ready our network of agencies to assist in the long-term recovery process.”

The Maui Filipino Chamber set up a Bayanihan Fund to receive donations to support resilience and recovery from the Maui wildfires. Many from the global Filipino community have also sent their aloha, including the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, Asia America Initiative, Coalition of Filipino American Chambers of Commerce, SoCal Filipinos and Filipino Young Leaders Program, among many generous donors.

The Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi have also set up a Kokua Maui coalition of organizations to support the Filipino Resource Fair efforts, and includes initiatives from the Hawaiʻi Philippines Business and Economic Council, Philippine Medical Association of Hawaiʻi, Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, West Hawaiʻi Filipino Chamber of Commerce, Filipino Chamber of Commerce Big Island, Filipino Jaycees of Honolulu, UP Alumni Association of Hawaiʻi and Filipino Association of University Women.

If your agency is providing disaster relief services, this is an opportunity to reach out to the Filipino community. Please sign up at bit.ly/hawakkamay. If your organization would like to be included in the list of partners, sign-up by contacting Kit Furukawa at 808-291-9407 for questions.