Gift for Life’s Home vs. Hunger team has launched “Home vs Hunger Helps Hawaii,” a special online fundraising campaign for World Central Kitchen’s crisis-related hunger relief efforts in wildfire-ravaged Maui.
Russ Jones, chair of Gift for Life’s Home vs. Hunger team, said, “Maui residents have lost so much, including businesses, restaurants and homes, and we are mobilizing the home industry to help in this time of extreme need.”
As of August 25, more than 115 people have died, nearly 400 people are still missing and approximately 2,200 structures have been damaged or destroyed because of the Maui wildfires.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) teams are on the ground in Maui working with partners to get much-needed meals to evacuees and emergency workers. In the first two weeks, WCK quickly mobilized to the hardest-hit areas and provided more than 60,000 meals to first responders and families in need. By working with chefs and residents from impacted communities, WCK adjusts efforts to meet the changing needs.
Donations to Home vs. Hunger Helps Hawaii will be accepted through the Fall 2023 High Point Market, Oct. 14-18, 2023, at Home vs Hunger Helps Hawaii.
“In 2020, Gift for Life designated World Central Kitchen as our primary beneficiary, and since then our board – and our generous industry donors – have carefully followed WCK’s work as they heroically respond to disasters of all kinds across the globe,” said Ari Lowenstein, chair of Gift for Life. “The speed and ferocity of the recent fires in Maui left a trail of destruction and despair and WCK responded in record time. With High Point Market approaching, the Home vs. Hunger team saw an opportunity to help the people of Maui and created this special fundraising initiative to directly support WCK’s vital work on the ground.”
