While the images and headlines coming from Hawaii’s island of Maui may be overwhelming, some people in San Diego are channeling their grief into positive action.
“They’re just full of love and want to give,” Natalie Ficarra said.
Ficarra is working with Hawaii-native, now San Diego resident and MMA fighter Ilima-Lei Macfarlane who quickly organized a fundraiser and donation drive to benefit those affected.
“Maui is in so many people’s hearts,” Ficarra, who has lived in Lahaina, said. “Financially, people are showing up, with donations people are showing up, and this is just what it is to be anything attached to Hawaii.”
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
And she’s not kidding.
People in San Diego have shown up to donate so many items — including hygiene products, blankets, tents, water, nonperishable food, underwear and more — that the drive needs to end early.
“The response has been so overwhelming that we thought we were going to take donations through the month of August and we literally have to stop,” Ficarra said.
Local
NBC 7 was at one of the donation drop-off locations, 10th Planet San Diego on Mission Gorge Road, on Saturday morning. From 10 a.m. to noon, the entrance to the gym was a revolving door of people bringing in as many items as their arms could carry.
“It’s devastating when there’s a fire and people lose everything,” Deidre Day said as she made her donation. “We had some hygiene products, adult diapers, wipes, stuff like that, so we decided to just bring them down today.”
Word of the donation drive traveled quickly, especially among Macfarlane’s 140,000 Instagram followers. The first post on her page with the flier that has details about the donation drop-off locations has since received nearly 5,000 likes. It was posted two days ago.
“There’s so many connections to that island that people, their hearts are just bleeding for the island of Maui,” Ficarra said.
How to help Maui wildfire victims from San Diego
The final opportunity to donate items to the following San Diego spots is Sunday, Aug. 13.
10th Planet San Diego
6008 Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA
Saturday and Sunday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
10th Planet Oceanside
1791 S Oceanside Blvd., Oceanside, CA
Saturday: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Island Style Cafe
9828 Magnolia Ave., Santee, CA
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Top Shelf Gift Shop
1742 East Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA
Sunday: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The items will then be driven to Long Beach and placed in a container that will travel to Maui by ship, according to Ficarra. She also mentioned there will be a benefit event held at Rawmana Fitness on Balboa Avenue in Clairemont Sunday, Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. where people will be able to donate directly to people in Lahaina who have lost their homes.
She added that while items can no longer be donated due to the exceptional amount already received, monetary donations to either direct people or relief funds are still needed.
Hawaii-based fundraisers
Donate to Hawaii's community fund
Hawaii’s Office of the Governor posted a message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that encouraged people to donate to the Hawaii Community Foundation. That’s the fund that’s being used currently to support communities affected by these wildfires on the island, the office said.
The foundation says that this #MauiStrongFund has been activated “to provide flexible, quickly deployed resources to support Maui residents.”
Maui Food Bank
The Maui Food Bank is in need of monetary donations to support the people affected by the Maui wildfires. They say the best way to donate is online here. Donations made to the Hawaii food bank will also go toward relief efforts.
Maui Humane Society
Support the pets of Maui from afar by donating to their efforts to aid animals affected by the wildfires. While people in Hawaii can support by fostering pets and providing physical donations, those afar can donate monetary funds here.
Beware of scams
Hawaii's Attorney General says as residents start to organize resources and solicit donations to help those impacted, be cautious who and where you are sending your money.
Before making a donation, she urges folks to donate to trusted and well-known charities, verify that the charity is legitimate, and stay away from any suspicious donation requests rushing you to donate money or to send a gift card, for example.
She shares more tips here.
