We Are #MauiStrong
In early August of this year, Maui was struck by a devastating fire that tore through the beloved town of Lahaina—a town enjoyed by tourist and locals alike.
WAIEA Water CEO Anton Smith was flying over Maui as the fires began, unaware of what he was actually seeing from miles above. What looked like vog he discovered upon landing, was one of the deadliest fires in American history.
Our staff, family members, community leaders and complete strangers from GoFundMe rallied immediately to help the residents of Maui. The fire contaminated the water in the area and made it unsafe to consume or utilize for washing or other purposes. In the media, we saw hundreds and hundreds of single use plastic bottled water being shipped to Maui for those in need. But there was a better solution that would help Maui long term. WAIEA Water wanted to provide Air to Water Generators that could continue to make clean, safe drinking water after the shipments of plastic bottles runs dry. Reducing the amount of plastic being sent to Maui was also on our minds.
WAIEA Water wants to thank all donors and community partners for making this project possible. Multiple large-scale Air to Water Generators have been installed in Maui and are providing hundreds of gallons of fresh, clean and SAFE drinking water to residents affected by the fires. Check out this video created by @puka_naz.
Special thank you to Young Brothers for shipping these large machines free of charge, Steve and Zach for your leadership, Pukalani Community Church of the Nazarene, Empowered by Light, Archie Kalepa, JPG Hawaii for donating water bottles for residents, Lahainaluna High School, and each and every GoFundMe donor, friend and family member who helped out.
And of course Pi’ikoi Kawānanakoa for your continued support, always.
We are also humbled by the generous donation and collaboration with @empoweredbylight and @sunnovaenergy for the Tesla Powerwalls—a solar power system installed at @puka_naz to keep the Air to Water Generator running long into the future.
