Dustin Tester of Maui Surfer Girls initially thought setting a $50,000 goal on her GoFundMe page to raise funds after the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires was “too much of an ask.” However, just three months later her ask surpassed $140,000.
The outpouring of financial support through donations in the days and weeks after the wildfires was tremendous and came from various sources, small to large — through small individual checks, dozens of GoFundMe accounts, the People’s Fund of Maui launched by celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson, or millions channeled through the Hawaii Community Foundation. Approaching a year since the disaster, it may be impossible to know with certainty what all the donations amount to. GoFundMe’s Wildfire Relief Fund, which has facilitated over 2,000 immediate-relief grants to those affected by the fires and supported local nonprofit organizations on the ground, has raised $1.
3 million. But the website reported that within the past year more than $65 million has been raised through pages set up on the platform to directly help victims affected by the Maui wildfires from donors around the world. “Seven of my 12 team members lost their homes, so of course I rallied and had a GoFundMe page up within 24 hours of the fires,” Tester, 51, said.
The surfing school and camp, which has been serving tourists and locals for nearly 25 years, has had most of its team members as part of the family for a decade. While seven staff members lost their homes, t.