I was asked to post something on the district website about disaster relief for Lahaina. If you are like me and most of the Lions that I know, we always want to be able to reach out to assist those in need.

Unfortunately, we don’t always know where to donate. Yes, it is obvious that we can donate directly to the Red Cross, or our own LCIF. Quite often when we look for something more local, we don’t know if we are donating to legitimate charities, or fly-by-night scammers.

I have reached out to our District Governor, our Club’s LCIF coordinator as well as the LCIF coordinator for our district for additional information. PDG Andy Anderson reported that LCIF has sent the initial District Governor $10,000 emergency grant and they have sent another $50,000 for them as well.  LCIF will most likely send another grant to Hawaii for rebuilding schools, hospitals, churches, fire and police stations etc. that were lost in the fire.

I also looked at the other clubs that I belong to, such as the American Legion to see if they are doing something through the local Post or the State or National Posts.  I did find that the American Legion, Department of California, does have a program in place to support veterans effected by the fires in Lahaina.

P.S. One other thought to keep in mind for my fellow travelers as I post this note from London. If you already had a vacation planned for Maui, and have considered cancelling it, please reconsider, even if you were booked to stay in Lahaina. Check into booking at a different hotel or resort if possible. When we visit Maui, we always plan a day to visit Lahaina. But I know that there are hundreds of other places to visit on Maui and I also know that they will need every tourist dollar that they can raise to rebuild this classic tourist destination. Donating dollars will help, but the money you spend on vacation will also be a great help to the people of Maui.