Aloha Spirit For Maui
Show Your Aloha Spirit! Help Us Help Maui.
Please chip in and show your Aloha spirit so we can help the Maui community!
The wildfires have killed over 150 individuals in Maui with over 1,000 still missing, making it the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history. Loss after loss, displaced families face the reality of being separated from their communities as they start at new schools, look for relatives, and piece together life again. While relief workers are there with emergency aid, food, and water, what remains a huge need is caring for the intensity of grief felt by everyone.
Let’s extend an “aloha” to Maui together.
In Hawai'i the word “aloha” means more than just hello. The meaning is deep and beautiful. It is the spirit of the people, culture, and land that encompasses love, peace, mercy, and compassion. Translated, it means “breath of life” and to have a mutual regard and affection for others. So when you say it to someone, it means you offer to extend kindness and warmth without obligation for anything in return. Within relationships, “aloha” is seeing each person as an important part of the whole collective, especially in caring for the uncared for and seeing the unseen.
In many ways, at Rooster & Hen we strive to embody the aloha spirit in our efforts to reach out before people need to reach in. We work to uniquely support each person, family, and community.
Our Chief Education Officer Rebecca Wu and Carole Zoom, the executive director of Nā Keiki O Emalia (NKOE), a non-profit organization on the island of Maui that serves grieving children and teens on a regular basis, made previous plans to have Rebecca train staff on ways to incorporate collectivistic approaches in their support program which includes storytelling, art, and a family-centered focus on outreach. However, since the wildfires, our friends at NKOE cannot keep doing this work without reprieve for they too are grieving their land, their home, and their people. This disaster hits home and they need help from the outside.
With all of NKOE’s resources and energy now being rightfully redirected toward helping relief efforts, we are raising funds to help get Rooster & Hen out there now with an added purpose - to relieve the relief workers, help create safe space for grief, and sustain a sensitivity training and outreach program going forward.
