Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is teaming up with Adventist Health and Adventist Community Services (ACS) to assist Maui communities in their recovery. The global humanitarian organisation is donating over $100,000 in goods and cash to help ACS and Adventist Health respond to the deadly wildfires in Hawaii.
More than 110 Hawaiians, including children, have died as a result of the Maui wildfires that swept through the island on August 8, and the toll is rising. Thousands more people have been forced to flee their homes or are still missing. Authorities suspect that a malfunctioning electrical system and wind gusts from Category 4 Hurricane Dora may have started the fires. According to local officials, more than 2000 houses and residential villages, as well as a significant portion of the island’s west side, including Lahaina—the coastal community that formerly served as the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom—were destroyed by the blaze.
“We are deeply saddened by this terrible catastrophe and praying for the families and individuals who lost loved ones, homes and their means of support,” said Imad Madanat, vice president of programs for ADRA International. “As the Seventh-Day Adventist church’s international arm for humanitarian work, ADRA is committed to partnering with and supporting Adventist Community Services and Adventist Health as they continue to assist with ongoing recovery efforts and offer emergency aid, relief, and care to the people of Maui.”
ADRA will assist Adventist Global Missions Systems in meeting the urgent needs of medical professionals who are also grappling with their own losses in the tragedy. The global humanitarian organisation is funding the purchase of essential laptops to assist healthcare personnel in mobilising and giving the community access to urgent medical care.
“In the midst of this crisis, healthcare professionals are attempting to find ways to provide emergency care to hundreds of patients who are in pain and, in some cases, don’t have access to medication for chronic illnesses. Resources to provide mobile computer devices through partnerships with organisations like ADRA are critical to assisting medical staff on the ground to manage care as the island recovers from this tragedy,” said John Schroer, Adventist Health Global Missions Systems lead.
ADRA is also donating more than 46 pallets of emergency supplies, such as mega fire-retardant weatherproof tents that can be used as temporary shelters and for storing goods and medical provisions to Adventist Community Services (ACS), as well as thousands of tarps, toolkits for building shelters and solar-powered lamps to support its recovery operation in Lahaina.
“ADRA has offered supplies that can be used for distribution in Hawaii. We have agreed to receive tents, shelter kits and solar lights. These items will be used to support our operation and given to those in need in the affected area,” said W Derrick Lea, North American Division community services director. “We’re excited about the opportunity to partner with our friends at ADRA as we have done previously, such as during Hurricane Harvey efforts a few years ago.”
ADRA will deploy the supplies to Hawaii with the assistance of Airlink, the humanitarian organisation’s disaster relief airlift and logistical partner. When the supplies arrive in Maui, Adventist church volunteers are expected to help distribute them to affected communities.
Watch this week’s episode of Record Live where Hawaiian conference pastor Ben Williams shared about what has been happening in Maui:
