On a typical day, the Ocean Spirit ship would be operating eco-tours across Maui as part of the nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation’s marine conservation and education program. The vessel survived the Maui wildfires earlier this week that leveled entire communities and killed at least 80 people because it was anchored off Lahaina and not in the harbor (another foundation ship, moored in the harbor, was not so lucky).
Maui is in desperate need of help, and the foundation has stepped in to fill the gaps and find the people that aid isn’t getting to quickly enough. On Wednesday, another foundation ship helped transport fuel to first responders in Lahaina.
Dozens of employees from across the organization kept the momentum going and created a grassroots network that’s identifying needy individuals and families, and finding out what supplies they need.
Now, donations from residents and supplies purchased with cash donations stream into the foundation’s classroom in Maalaea, which staff has converted to a makeshift warehouse. When it’s “go time,” dozens of staff mobilize and begin moving the supplies in trucks and on dollies down to the marine just outside, and then get into formation: a long bucket brigade that spans from a truck, across a boat, to the Ocean Spirit.
It only takes the team about 30 minutes to load the hundreds of pounds of batteries, flashlights, water, food, household items, clothes, baby diapers and gas canisters. A late arrival of propane tanks is met with big praise – no power in western Maui means it’s the only way to cook.
The trip to the dropoff point – Kahekili Beach Park, just north of Lahaina – takes just over an hour. But as soon as the catamaran’s ladder drops on the beach, there’s another bucket brigade forming. Beachgoers that had been swimming and walking the beach even joined in.
As quickly as it was offloaded, the supplies were loaded into a number of trucks and cars sitting on the fifth-hole fairway of the Royal Ka’anapali golf course. A majority of it is picked up by the people that had requested it, but the remaining supplies were transported to distribution centers across western Maui.
Discussion about this post