Lahaina Fire Relief for Gazebo Restaurant

Some of The Gazebo employees and their families have had their homes destroyed and were displaced by the Maui fires. Joseph and his family, Miriam and Pato and their family, and Chelsea and her husband lost everything they own besides the clothes on their backs. Additionally, Jerry and Lucy, the owners of The Gazebo, have had their homes destroyed and lost everything along with many items needed for the restaurant. Any help is appreciated to assist the displaced in recovering.

The Gazebo is a special place to many people. A magical place. Special and magical because of the people who work there and the owners.

Employees Miriam and Pato plus their children are displaced, both have been at Gazebo for many years. The Gazebo truly is family literally as Miriams mother used to work at The Gazebo years ago. Several employees have worked there for years and many bring their children on once they reach working age!

Joseph is one of the cooks and he lost everything as well, he started working at The Gazebo about 20 years ago when he was just a teenager! He just had his first child a few years ago. Joseph is one of my favorite people in the world, always smiling and positive, a truly good person.

Chelsea, one of the waitresses is displaced along with her husband, they escaped with basically the clothes on their backs, their wedding rings the only physical belonging they basically could save, she had to jump into the ocean to escape the fire and wait for hours to be rescued.

It is becoming apparent what a large challenge it is to replace belongings as well as housing for even one family, let alone all of these affected Gazebo families. But we do what we can, and all help is appreciated. As more donations continue to come in, we have increased our "goal" and are forever grateful. The restaurant itself, though spared from fire being in Napili, is still unable to open at the moment, other employees had their homes spared but are in nearly unliveable neighborhoods.

Jerry and Lucy Corson are the owners of the Gazebo, they are the source of Gazebo's Aloha. They had a house accross the street from the other where they lived as well as stored nearly everything needed to operate and back-up The Gazebo. I have watched them do everything for their employees. Everything. It's not uncommon for a new employee to be given a bed, couch, or ohana to stay if they are struggling. Long-time employees have been there for decades, they have always been generous and giving. Their home and their families across the street are gone. Gazebo is famous for it's MacNut Pancakes! And Jerry and Lucy stored several thousand dollars worth of them at their homes as they are very expensive and they bought in bulk, this is just an example of what was lost in the fire. Insurance simply will not cover all of this, they had several storage sheds full of physical items for The Gazebo that are gone.

We seek to help the employees as well as the owners and all funds go directly to Jerry Corson who we all trust to distribute as needed. Jerry and Lucy did not want a fundraiser for themselves, but I include them in it as the creator of the fundraiser because they need help as well, and I know they will always take care of the employees first, and making sure The Gazebo is able to employ and take care of everyone as well. We will help the employees get permanent housing through this fund, we will help the employees get belongings they need and have lost, and we will help the owners who lost their own homes and belongings. In short we will help The Gazebo family.

These are the type of people who will give you the shirts off their backs, help you through any personal problems you have, help you change a tire on the side of the road.

If anyone has visited The Gazebo on Maui please show your love to Jerry, Lucy, the employees and anyone else who may need help.

Aloha.

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