Support Lahaina Families

Aloha. My name is Nathan Kahaiali’i and have grown up in Lahaina, Maui. It’s a place that I have called home for practically my entire life. I am also a teacher at one of the public schools here on the west side of Maui. Teaching in my community is something that I enjoy and am able to inspire and motivate the future leaders and educators of Hawai’i. A resilient community like Lahaina has always been important to me. With the August wildfires on Maui, I have seen the strength and unity of community coming together and helping each other, especially during these times as Lahaina heals and hope for a positive rebuild.
I recently ran in the Chicago Marathon and had the opportunity to represent Lahaina. Although losing my home as well and thinking to dropout from the marathon, I received support to continue my journey towards the marathon. To help represent Lahaina in the Chicago Marathon, I created a shirt that would help others not only see Lahaina and Maui, but also see the resilience of the people who live in Lahaina. There are two designs on the shirt. The front is inspired by the many hands, from within Hawai’i and outside of Hawai’i, that have come together to help Maui immediately with much needed essential resources, and that will continue to help the people of Lahaina. The back of the shirt is an ‘ulu (breadfruit) print design with the names of the 4 public schools serving as a border around the ‘ulu print. On the top is ‘malu ‘ulu o Lele’ (the shaded breadfruit grove of Lele), which at one point was the historical Hawaiian name for Lahaina, and a fruitful place that provided much natural resources for the people. Having the ‘ulu print with the schools serving as a border is to help strengthen the focus on the rebuild and support that is needed for not just the community, but also the support and strength the children will need moving forward who go to these schools in Lahaina. During the marathon I had complete strangers not only supporting and cheering me on but also for Lahaina, shouting “Lahaina strong!” and “Go Maui strong!”. People now have a chance to purchase that design and continue to support the families of Lahaina that are enduring their own marathon.I hope to run other marathons and continue to bring much needed attention and continuing aid to a place that many call home. I want to continue to show that Lahaina is resilient and that we are not giving up in this marathon, no matter how long it takes.
If you would like to follow my journey on running for Lahaina, you can follow @runforlahaina on instagram. All money collected from this fundraiser will be going directly to affected families in Lahaina through the gofundme created by @officiallahainastrong. I also share the link to that gofundme on this campaign if you would like to donate directly to the gofundme page. For full transparency, I am not collecting one penny on my behalf. This is 100% for the families in Lahaina. Mahalo for your time and your support.