Native Hawaiians and North Texas restaurant owners organize Maui fundraiser
HURST (CBSNewsTexas.com) - For Hawaiians living in North Texas it can be hard to be so far away from home as Hawaii begins to recover from the devastation of the wildfires in Maui.
But the owners of a Hawaiian restaurant in Hurst are creating a way for North Texans to come together to support Maui from thousands of miles away.
"Disbelief, heartache, loss of words," said Pomai Uyehara, the co-owner of Pineapple Grill in Hurst.
For Native Hawaiians Pomai and Barry Uyehara the images of the devastation in Maui are heartbreaking.
"You feel hopeless to be so far away you just ask the question how can we, what can we do?," said Pomai Uyehara.
The Uyeharas are the owners of the Pineapple Grill in Hurst, where they serve up a taste of Hawaii right here in North Texas with classics like their famous kalua pork and teriyaki chicken.
The couple was born and raised on the big island of Hawaii and even spent their honeymoon in Lahaina which was destroyed by the wildfires.
"So when we heard about the fires in Lahaina we kind of just jumped into action and made some phone calls and in fact, a lot of people were calling us, 'what can we do?'" said Barry Uyehara.
They created the Project Aloha Texas #MAUISTRONG fundraiser as a way for the North Texas community to come together to support Maui through monetary donations. They say 100% of the money they raise will go directly to families who were impacted.
"They lost everything and they were so thankful and it just kind of broke us because they lost everything and they're thanking us and that was just so, kind of humbling," said Barry Uyehara.
This Sunday they'll be hosting a #MAUISTRONG fundraiser event at the Midcities Montessori Gymnasium in Bedford with Hawaiian food, music and raffles.
"You'd be surprised on how much people have been impacted whether through vacation, whether they have family members who live in Hawaii, and just us as Pacific Islanders across the board that want to help," said Pomai Uyehara.
All sales from the event will go directly to people in Maui.
"What we wanted to include is those that have families that are from Maui to come and let us love upon you as a community just to let you know that we are here for you," said Pomai Uyehara. "We come together through music and food and that heals us from the inside out."
For more information on how you can contribute to the Project Aloha Texas #MAUISTRONG fundraiser, click here.