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Nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, that had losses caused by the Maui County wildfires and high winds have one week – until Wednesday, Oct. 25 – to submit a Request for Public Assistance from FEMA.

The nonprofit Hawaiʻi Land Trust has received a more than $1.1 million grant from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund to create temporary workforce opportunities in partnership with KUPU for 48 Maui residents who have been affected by the recent wildfires. Applications are open through Nov. 17, 2023.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has removed hazardous materials from more than 75% of the burned properties in Lahaina, Maui – the first phase of the overall federal cleanup response to the Maui Wildfires.

Currently, crews are continuing repairs to restore an approximate 300 remaining customers in Lahaina, including the Wahikuli area. In the last two weeks, with more areas being cleared for re-entry by emergency response officials, crews restored power to about 350 customers in the Kahoma Village, parts of Puamana and Upper Kapunakea area.

Workers and self-employed individuals, who temporarily or permanently lost their jobs due to the August wildfires and emergency declarations, will be eligible for paid disaster-relief positions and training through a program run by Maui Economic Opportunity.

Council member Tamara Paltin introduced Bill 95 (2023), which she said would exempt properties destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by the August wildfires from property taxes and create an incentive for hotels and short-term rentals to house residents displaced by the fires.

Maui United Way, a charitable nonprofit serving Maui for more than 75 years, created and implemented an Emergency Financial Assistance program that received more than 9,000 applications, and has now successfully distributed payments of $1,000 to more than 7,000 individual fire survivors on Maui. Maui United Way has now launched the second round of grants to assist its local Maui nonprofit partners.

Governor Josh Green, M.D., with Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, state officials, FEMA and the American Red Cross joined in providing an update on the economic recovery and housing response on Maui following the devastating Aug. 8 wildfires.

Mayor Richard Bissen and his administration will host community budget meetings throughout Maui County starting next week for residents to share their priorities and provide input on the budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins July 1, 2024.

The Biden administration today announced $3.5 billion for 58 projects across 44 states to strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability. This comes following an announcement in August of $95 million in federal funds from the program to harden the energy grids in Hawaiʻi following Maui’s devastating wildfire.

All Tournament ticket-only packages and limited booster ticket-only packages for the 2023 Maui Invitational are now officially on sale and can be purchased online.

Lahaina’s two elementary schools reopened to hundreds of students today on a shared campus that faculty and staff from both schools have worked hard to make as inviting and familiar as possible for their communities impacted by the August wildfires.

Toyota Hawaiʻi will cover admission fees for up to 3,000 attendees at the 2023 Pumpkin Patch at Kula Country Farms on Maui this Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A portion of the admission fees from the “Kamaʻāina Sunday” event will go toward the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund. 

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center will kick off the holiday season in style with its presentation of Hawaiʻi’s top-selling female artist ever, Maui’s own Amy Hānaialiʻi. The concert is in Castle Theater, Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. online only to MACC members Thursday, Oct. 19 and to the general public Friday, Oct. 20.

Hawaiʻi’s timeshare industry recently teed up to provide financial support for Maui’s recovery and relief efforts. ARDA-Hawaiʻi’s 19th Annual Golf Tournament raised $125,000 for Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund. One hundred percent of the gross proceeds from the tournament were donated to the fund. 

Japan’s All Nippon Airways, ANA, is celebrating its 25-year legacy of facilitating connections between travelers and the destinations of Japan and Honolulu in October. Since its inaugural flight in 1998, ANA has served millions of passengers on thousands of flights along this route.

The Salvation Army is issuing a call to action, seeking dedicated volunteers for its Maui Disaster Relief Call Center with two Oʻahu locations. In the wake of the recent wildfires that have impacted the Maui community, the Salvation Army is rallying local support to aid residents on Maui. The organization is urgently seeking 15-20 volunteers with excellent communication skills and a passion for community and social services.

Ahead of Carnival Cruise Line’s next visit to Hawaiʻi on the 2,124-guest Carnival Miracle, which will arrive to Kahului, Maui on Thursday, it’s also continuing to chart its course for deployment plans to bring more guests to Hawaiʻi.

Aloha Festivals five-days of culture and fun starts Saturday with a parade; Oktoberfest and Kōkua for Lahaina raise funds for Maui wildfire victims; and Haunted Hawaiian Ghost Stories and the musical Rocky Horror Show pave the way for Halloween. Find our comprehensive listing HERE.

To help people like Vierra, Native Hawaiian Matt Jachowski has used his skills as a software developer to create the website Maui Hale Match, which he hopes will make it easier for displaced fire survivors to connect with homeowners and landlords that have available units they can afford. But his data shows the affordability gap is huge.