The island of Maui burned like never before in its history, destroying trees, homes and lives. Hawaii watches in despair as its historical and cultural legacy, centered around the ancient capital of Lahaina, fades and becomes ashes. The flames of the deadliest fire in the United States have claimed hundreds of lives and many missing people are still being found. Something particularly at odds with what the islands have meant mentally and sentimentally to millions of Americans, especially the wealthiest, for decades: a paradise in which to spend relaxing times, far from the hustle and bustle of the hustle and bustle. That’s why many of them have been committed to helping those affected from day one, and now Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson, known as The Rock, have put this help into action by setting up a fund and donating an initial $10 million.
This contribution (in return 9.2 million euros) is just the beginning of what the presenter and the actor want to raise through this so-called People’s Fund of Maui, which they encourage everyone in the world to donate what they can, so that it directly benefits the island’s residents. So direct that they promise that anyone who applies for it and meets the requirements can receive $1,200 per month (just over 1,100 euros). Petition forms are open from this morning.
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La Roca, 51, and Winfrey, 69, announced the creation of this fund through a joint message on their Instagram accounts, where she has 23 million followers and he has no less than 390, making him one of the most followed people in this network all over the world. “Over the past few weeks, I have been meeting with people in the community who have suffered from the effects of the fire, asking them what they need most and how I can help,” the host, actress and producer said in the release common explanation for both stars. “The most important thing I have heard is your concern about how I am going to cope with this immense financial burden.” So they have decided to distribute the money directly.
In addition to their donations, they were able to raise more than 400,000 dollars, around 370,000 euros, in just eight hours. In their joint video, they say the idea came to them when Oprah was worriedly texting each other about how she could help, and found out that singer Dolly Parton had donated money “directly to her community,” and they decided to to follow this example. “We guarantee that the donations will go directly to one of the many affected residents,” she says, while the actor explains that there are many people who doubt that the monetary donations will reach their goal. “In disasters like these, money is what matters most,” say both of them, and as well-known faces they want to be the guarantee that the broadcast is correct.
Both The Rock and Winfrey have strong ties to Hawaii. The actor of the Fast & Furious saga is a lover of the culture of the archipelago and in 2019 married his girlfriend Lauren Hashian, with whom he had been dating for 12 years and with whom he has two daughters, Jasmine and Tiana. The actor has had a foundation since 2006 to help terminally ill children and is a major philanthropist: he has helped hospitals, universities, natural disasters, abandoned animals and, more recently, striking actors. In Hawaii he had already donated large sums of money to build a gym on a military base and to help with hurricanes. For her part, Winfrey has a house on the island where she spends long periods of time, and from the first moment she was determined to broadcast many hours of television about the fires, although they were not always well received in the facilities she wanted was created to do their program where there were people in a vulnerable situation who had lost everything. The television star owns a huge farm on Maui covering about 3.5 kilometers in the Kula area, in the center of the island.