Lahaina Disaster Relief: Choice Health Bar Staff

Many have asked how they can help us. We are touched by the love pouring in. Sadly the original Choice Health Bar, our headquarters, was destroyed in the fire that leveled almost all of Lāhainā Town. The priority now is helping our team and their families. This is Kathryn Dahm writing, co-founder of Choice.

We have 27 Lahaina staff members who lost their homes and everything they own. Many team members are from long time born & raised westside families with multiple generations living under one roof. Their support network IS Lāhainā, and now everyone that would normally help them needs help too. Others have been Maui residents for 10 - 20 years. In what felt like an instant, their homes, workplace, neighborhoods, possessions and vehicles were reduced to ashes. Some may have also lost relatives and friends - as we are still learning the extent of what has happened.

As for Choice - we will dig deep, reinvent, reimagine and recover.

This fund is for those 27 staff members who lost their homes. The chaos here has been overwhelming. Most of our staff haven’t had a chance to set up donation links so we are creating this as a single portal allowing you, our extended Choice Ohana, to lend support from afar. We will distribute all funds directly to the team, divided equally, to help them rebuild their lives. They will utilize the financial support to secure more permanent housing and daily necessities.

Choice team members who lost their homes:

Jake Schattenberg

May Wedelin

Angel Morena Caseneda

Jonah Basurto

Chie Kaya

Chiho Villasenor

Laura Black Caprioni

Keiko Kaska

Maxx Vorpahl

Morgan Vorpahl

Repus Eric McCumber

Amanda Palmer

John Flores

Sean Ayer

Nickole Ayer

Emily Kunz

Camille Balderas

Patricia (Rin) VanBramer

Jireh Alega

Nicko James Pagdilao

Tricia Pascua

Brianna Burgos

Rei Rosales

Joslyn Villon

Shierlyn Arzaga

Jackie Arzaga

Michelle Arzaga

Our hearts are broken but we are trying to hold our spirits high. One step at a time we are moving forward. We sincerely appreciate your prayers, generosity, and aloha during this incredibly challenging time. Lahaina is NOT GONE. We can all pull together and get through this.

With Aloha from Maui,

Kathryn + Emily

Co-founders