CHICAGOANS SENDING LOTS OF AID TO MAUI
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As the work gets underway to help the people of Maui after the deadly wildfires there last week, some significant help is coming in from Chicago. Yesterday, the Northern Illinois Food Bank sent out a shipment of 41 pallets of dry goods headed to the island and then later in the day, United Airlines sent a plane out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport headed to Maui’s Kahului Airport carrying 24-thousand pounds of supplies.
Northern Illinois Food Bank’s donation is made up of items donated by ALDI in partnership with Feeding America and includes shelf-stable items like peanut butter, protein bars, instant oatmeal, and tuna. The pallets were loaded up in a donated Amazon truck headed for California and then on to Hawaii. And the United Airlines donation includes baby formula, canned goods, and other personal hygiene items. After dropping off the supplies, the plane will return to the mainland with passengers who’ve been stranded on the island since the fires began.
The president of the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Julie Yurko, says that their partnership with ALDI has allowed them to respond quickly and effectively when crisis strikes. "Every year we have a disaster packing event. We have almost 700 [ALDI] employees come out. They provide all of the food,” Yurko explains, “We packed, this year, 6-thousand boxes of food that we are able to store here and distribute when disaster comes."
If you’d like to help the people of Maui, here’s list of organizations working on the relief effort:
- The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
- The Hawaii Community Foundation
- Maui United Way
- GoFundMe
- Maui Food Bank
- Maui Humane Society
- The American Red Cross
- The Center for Disaster Philanthropy
More information can be found about these organizations on GuideStar and Charity Navigator.
Source: NBC CHICAGO
