The 9th island steps up: Las Vegas community gathers to support Maui fire victims

Chandrie Chang and her family come from Waipahu, a plantation town in Oahu that’s similar to Lahaina, which has been among the areas devastated by wildfires in Maui this month.

Chang and her husband have been Las Vegas residents for about 20 years and have seen the Hawaiian community grow locally.

On Sunday afternoon, the Chang family business, Hi2Sin Eats, set up shop at the Downtown Container Park as one of several vendors taking part in a fundraising event for victims of the fires.

“I just hope we make a lot of money that we can help rebuild Lahaina,” Chang said. “Our main focus is keeping the land with the locals and not selling it to the big corporations. We’re for the people.”

More than 100 people have been killed and nearly 400 are unaccounted for in the wake of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century that destroyed much of Lahaina, a West Maui town, according to The Associated Press.

Thousands of Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders call Southern Nevada home.

“Being called the Ninth Island you have to step up,” said Toni Rose Lopez, with Mahalo-Halo LV, one of the groups organizing Sunday’s event.

The event was a partnership between Mahalo-Halo LV and the Las Vegas Asian American Pacific Islanders Chamber. It included local vendors, live entertainment and Hawaiian food trucks.

Chang and her family were selling Hawaiian-style comfort food including patele, which she described as a Hawaiian tamale that is a Puerto Rican-Hawaiian fusion.

“It’s from the olden days in Hawaii. Our grandparents all used to eat it,” Chang said. “It’s really hard to find now so we kind of revitalized it here in Sin City.”

Proceeds went to organizations including the Maui Fire Relief Fund, Salvation Army and Maui Food Bank.

Sunday’s event was free to the public and included clothing drop-off and other donation opportunities.

“It just goes to show you how important this connection is between Southern Nevada and Hawaii and how deeply so many people feel about this tragedy and feeling the need to get together and do what we can to help the victims,” U.S. Rep. Susie Lee said.

Around 5 p.m. Sunday about 50 people gathered at the Baha’i Center, near West Oakey and South Rainbow boulevards, for a devotional service in honor of the victims in Maui.

The service included prayers, Hawaiian music and live music and song performances.

Local businesses have been collecting donations that were sent to Hawaii. A team of 50 Clark County first responders traveled to Maui to assist fire victims.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on X.