The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donates $1M in Maui recovery efforts
Aug 21, 2023, 9:00 PM
Power crews work to replace power poles and lines in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Response to the Maui fire that destroyed a large portion of the town continues to come in from neighboring islands and the mainland. Photo credit: Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Recovery efforts are underway on the island of Maui, following the devastating wildfires. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced over the weekend it is donating $1 million to the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Hawaii.
The Deseret News reports the donation will help the Red Cross with providing shelter for the survivors. It will also help provide meals, hygiene kits, bedding and family reunification efforts.
Church News reporter Mary Richards provides KSL NewsRadio with an update on the recovery efforts.
“There is this kind of sense of resiliency,” she said. “And hopes to rebuild and hopes to keep Lahaina with the people who live there. And they want to rebuild. They still want to live there again. But it’s so much work, there’s so much to do.”
Richards shares a message she heard from church leaders over the weekend.
“We are mourning right now,” she said. “We are sitting in this pain and this grief together. Yes, of course, we want to hop up and work and move forward. But we can still sit and process this grief together.”
Reaching out to further assist Maui recovery efforts
Richards says church leadership has reached out to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green about how else it can assist relief efforts.
“He was very appreciative of that outreach,” Richards said. “He said the church, our church, was the first faith organization he met with and that was just this weekend.”
Richards also says meetinghouses are no longer being used to house those evacuated.
“The government is trying to make sure that they can get people into permanent slash temporary accommodation, if that makes sense,” she said.
Richards says she has been particularly impressed with the young people on Maui.
“I’ve been inspired as a parent about the youth,” she said. “They can do hard things and we should not shelter them from those hard things. And I was impressed and inspired by the youth leaders who did not shelter the kids here… from going and serving because it was a hard thing for them to see.”
Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.
Bonneville International Corporation, the company that owns KSL NewsRadio, is a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
