West Sacramento family rallies for Maui with donations, wish list for family impacted
WEST SACRAMENTO -- A California family can't physically go to Hawaii to help their loved ones impacted by the Maui fires, so they're working together hundreds of miles apart to provide necessities for the island's community.
Christina Ramirez's brother and sister-in-law and their two children live on Maui. When the fires swept through their community, Ramirez knew she needed to help in some way but didn't know how.
That is until her family on Maui told her necessities at local stores were running out. She didn't want to just send money, although she said her work family, Nor-Cal Pipelines, donated a handful of Amazon gift cards. She wanted to donate more new members of her West Sacramento community may want to do the same.
Local business Exotic Auto Recycling is paying for the cost of shipping donated items from California to Maui.
"I figured what could West Sac do for Maui and let me just get the word out there?" said Ramirez.
With guidance on what items are needed more, she created an Amazon Wish List where her local California community could purchase items and have them sent straight to her family's home on Maui. Their home, she explained, survived the historic and deadly wildfires and is open to their greater community as a respite.
Ramirez said she is in close contact with her loved ones in Hawaii for guidance to ensure donations not only go to the right place but do not overwhelm local resources.
"If it happened to you, what would you want?" said Ramirez.
Hygiene products, baby items, some clothing, and emergency supplies like batteries and flashlights are high on the list of needs, she's been told by her family.
Ramirez's brother-in-law James Nelson is a retired Marine and captain of SeaMaui. The business was impacted by the Maui fires. The employees and team at Sea Maui Surf are "safe and accounted for," according to the business' Instagram post. Ramirez said all that is left is their boat which they're using to make deliveries and transport supplies to Lahaina.