Aloha, my name is Kristi Kapahulehua. My husband and I are lifetime Kihei residents on Maui. We have committed ourselves to our community and continue to to help the wildfire victims in Lahaina and Kula, but we now find ourselves needing to reach out to our community.

The Kona Low Storm hit our community hard. My family and I were without power and water for five days. For three days, we couldn’t leave our home, and when we finally could, we discovered that all of our food had spoiled due to the power outage. The storm caused extensive water damage to our walls and flooring, forcing us to move out and leaving us unhoused. Since then, we have been unable to receive any assistance from our insurance company, making this situation even more difficult.

We are reaching out for help to cover the costs of our urgent and immediate needs like restocking food, daily essentials, and immediate repair work so we can return home. This is not who we are—we have always committed ourselves to helping others daily, but now we find ourselves in a predicament where we need to ask for help. We appreciate deeply from our hearts any type of assistance that comes our way to help us get back on our feet and restore some stability to our lives.

Mahalo.