Regional Red Cross helping out after Hawaii fires

ST. PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) – As the ash begins to clear and recovery efforts continue in Maui, Red Cross representatives from Minnesota and the Dakotas are on the ground helping out.

“In our Minnesota and Dakotas Region right now we have deployed 10 volunteers to help with those relief efforts in Hawaii,” said Sue Thesenga, Communications director for the region.

The situation has proven difficult to navigate, as the death toll continues to climb. For that reason, they’re carefully choosing the people they send over.

“Due to the nature of this tragedy, we’re looking first for our trained volunteers to go,” said Thesenga.

She says people can still lend a hand if they’re looking to help out in some way.

“Another way people can help, and the most important thing, is to donate to the Red Cross,” she said, “Every gift will help the Red Cross respond to help people recover from this disaster.”

Careful preparation ahead of time allowed the organization to respond quickly once the fire broke out.

" We preposition supplies on the island in case of situations like this, so we were quickly able to deploy people to go,” Thesenga said.

She added that events like the fire, while tragic can highlight a community’s willingness to be resilient.

“I think there’s goodness in the world at times like this. I think we see people coming to the forefront to help make a difference for these people,” she said.

The Red Cross is accepting donations via text. Text the word “Hawaii” to 90999 to take part.

Gray Television has partnered with the Salvation Army if you’d like to donate there as well. You can text “FIRE RELIEF to 51555 to help out.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s office reminds people hoping to donate to any cause to check their legitimacy. Click here for more information.

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