Anchorage and Wasilla poke shop collects donations for Maui wildfire survivors

A local relief effort is underway to help bring food and supplies to displaced and grieving Maui residents after one of the deadliest wildfires in recent history swept through part of the island, killing dozens of people and destroying hundreds of homes.

Tasha Kahele, owner of Lei’s Poke Stop, organized the drive Thursday after speaking with family in Maui whose homes had been destroyed in the blaze.

“We’re asking the community to come out and donate clothes for all the kids and families that live in Lahaina and lost their homes: clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags, pillows, any nonperishable food items, water. They need lots of water,” she said.

Both of her shops, in East Anchorage and Wasilla, are accepting the donations through Saturday during regular business hours, she said. She plans to ship the supplies to Maui at the end of the weekend via Alaska Air Cargo.

The addresses for the two locations are 1142 N. Muldoon Road, No. 115 in Anchorage, and 1771 E. Palmer-Wasilla Highway, Suite 1A in Wasilla. Both shops are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Saturday.

“We’re just trying to do what we can. The island is depleting their resources. A lot of the stores are out of a lot of things. My family called from Maui and said, ‘Whatever you can do to help us, send help,’ ” she said.

Kahele, who moved to Alaska in 2009 from Oahu, said she was devastated by the stories of the fire, which has reduced entire neighborhoods in historic Lahaina to ash this week.

[Wildfire devastates Lahaina Town, former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom]

Officials have said the death toll is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue, in what’s now considered the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1961 tsunami killed 61 people on the Big Island.

Thousands of Alaskans — many of whom live in Anchorage — identify as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Alaska and Hawaii have long shared a close cultural connection. Kahele hopes those communities, and others, will help spread the word about the food and supply drive.

She said there were many places online where people can donate to relief efforts, but she wanted to help in a way that felt more immediate.

“There have been so many people taking cash donations. We just want to send tangible things. We haven’t set up a GoFundMe for the relief because we were asked specifically for tangible help,” Kahele said.

Other places to donate

Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong fund: hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s Kākoʻo Maui fund: hawaiiancouncil.org/maui

Hawaiʻi People’s Fund: hawaiipeoplesfund.networkforgood.com/projects/200566-maui-aloha-the-people-s-response-fund

Maui Food Bank: mauifoodbank.org

Maui Humane Society: mauihumanesociety.org

Maui United Way: mauiunitedway.org/disasterrelief

The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division: hawaii.salvationarmy.org

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the year Tasha Kahele moved to Alaska.