Website set up to donate directly to Maui educators

by Bryce Moore - 08/19/23 9:47 AM ET

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Dozens of Lahaina teachers have been left with nothing, but the teachers union wants the public to know that there are ways to help.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association set up a website where anyone can donate directly to affected educators.

Justin Hughey, a third-grade special education teacher at King Kamehameha III Elementary School, is still trying to make sense of it all.

“The next morning when they, when there were some helicopter shots going around and saying, you know, ‘It looks like a war zone,’ I could see the school just next to the harbor and it was all gone,” Hughey said.

*FILE – A burnt shell is all that is left of the first-grade classroom at King Kamehameha III Elementary School in Lahaina, Hawaii, August 2023. (Photo/Mindi Cherry)*

“One teacher that was here today said it’s not post-traumatic stress. It’s, it’s like traumatic stress because it’s just constant right now.”
Justin Hughey, King Kamehameha III Elementary School third grade special education teacher

According to the HSTA website, at least 57 educators on Maui either lost their homes entirely or their homes were so damaged that they had to relocate. Click here to visit the HSTA donation page.

Every educator on the website is a verified member of the HSTA.

Tags Hawaii Hawaii wildfires Lahaina