Quincy woman raises money for Habitat for Humanity employee who lost house in Maui fire
BOSTON - There are quite a few online fundraisers for Lahaina families who were burned out of their homes. One of them was started by a Quincy woman, in the name of man she worked with two decades ago at a local company. When she saw the Maui devastation on her TV screen, she knew she had to find her old friend and help him get back on his feet.
"It's obviously devastating and overwhelming," said Max Tornai, a Massachusetts native who moved to Maui 15 years ago.
He works for Habitat for Humanity, but now finds himself, his wife Mary, and their son Ollie homeless, wondering if life will ever be the same.
"It can't be the same, you know. The whole town is gone," Tornai said.
Their neighborhood was destroyed by the fires. Enter an old friend, Debbie Weisman Clasie, who used to work with Tornai 20 years ago in Massachusetts. She finally got in touch with him days after the fire to learn the family had lost everything.
"They're wonderful people who have dedicated themselves to non-profits, their whole careers in Hawaii, and just anything to help them," Weisman Clasie said.
She launched a fundraising page which has already exceeded its $15,000 goal.
"Still, I wasn't expecting nearly the response that we got," Tornai said. "It was super encouraging."
For now, home for the Tornai family is a donated Airbnb and the memories of their frightening drive away from the flames is still quite vivid.
"We did get stuck in a lot of smoke, the skies turned black, and things started to catch fire around us," Tornai recalled.
They made it out and understand why some of their neighbors will never return. But they plan to stay and hope a visit by President Biden will cement Lahaina's plight in the public eye, so the world keeps focused on the enormous task at hand.
"I think it shows there is a commitment there to help hopefully, so we'll see what happens," Tornai said.
Indeed, staying positive is hard even as he feels the love of old friends and strangers. But whenever his frame of mind goes dark, Max remembers a chat he had with his young son just a couple of days ago.
"One thing he said was 'I think mom and dad are more sad about this than me, it's a new beginning,'" Tornai said.
For more on how to help those affected by the Maui wildfires, click here.