Relief efforts in Maui, update on former Emporia family living there

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — We first visited Benito Rodriguez and his family almost three weeks ago when they learned that they lost everything to the Maui wildfires. Now, they say it is challenging to find a permanent place to live.

“I went and looked at a place that was dilapidated, falling apart and a little two bedroom with no bath inside the house, literally falling apart, and they still wanted $3,000 for something that nobody could live in,” said Rodriguez. 

They first moved to Maui from Emporia in 2019 as the family joined their son, who had moved there first. Rodriguez works at the Pacific Whale Foundation. He helps with the maintenance of their boats. They have been able to use them to help assist with the transportation of needed necessities. 

The American Red Cross has provided more than 21,800 overnight shelter stays for survivors, as well as more than 121,500 meals and snacks. They have begun to move people from short-term shelters in gymnasiums to hotel rooms. 

The Red Cross Kansas-Oklahoma Region has at least five volunteers from areas including Wichita, McPherson, Newton, and Wamego. 

Volunteer Colleen Mansur says watching the community support each other is an emotional experience. 

“They have nothing. There’s a lot of concern over the number of people still missing, but people are anxious to help their neighbors in Hawaii, and that has been really overwhelming. It’s been truly lovely to see,” said Mansur. 

Rodriguez says the community in Maui relies on the tourism industry to thrive economically. He wants those outside of Hawaii to know that parts of Maui are still open to visitors.

“It’s so important for tourism to still come and see beautiful Maui, see the land, we still have Wailea, we still got Kaanapali, we’ve still got a lot of beautiful places to go,” said Rodriguez. 

If you want to help the Rodriguez family, you can find their GoFundMe here.

For those wanting to help the Red Cross, you can visit their donation page here.