NEWS
Oprah, The Rock Launch Maui Relief Fund With $10 Million Donation
Courtesy of therock/Instagram
Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Thursday announced they’re launching a recovery fund for thousands of people who lost their homes in the devastating Aug. 8 wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
The pair seeded the People’s Fund of Maui by together donating $10 million, they said in an Instagram video announcing the program.
Adults who lost their primary homes in the fires that swept through Lahaina and Kula will be eligible to receive $1,200 per month through the fund. The offer is open to both homeowners and renters.
“Talk about reputation management. Oprah and The Rock are consistently engaging in charitable actions or positive endeavors, which remain in line with their established brand, reinforcing their reputation for doing good,” said strategic communications consultant Robbie Vorhaus, founder and CEO of Vorhaus Communications, Inc.
“We have created the People’s Fund of Maui that will put money directly in the hands of the people who need it right now,” Winfrey said.
The longtime television personality, who has a home in Maui, said she was inspired after reading about country music legend Dolly Parton helping her community. After deadly floods in Tennessee in 2021, Parton and her Dollywood Foundation raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for victims.
As of the latest update from the Maui Police Department Wednesday evening, there remained 115 confirmed fatalities, with 100% of the affected area searched. Of those, only 54 individuals have been identified so far, and families have been notified for only 48 of them.
Maui police and the FBI are asking for the public’s help updating the list of those who remain unaccounted for. According to the latest update last week, the official list of missing included 388 individuals with a verified first name, last name, and contact number for the person who reported them missing.
Gov. Josh Green told reporters earlier this week that some 6,000 displaced people are being housed in hotels and other rentals such as Airbnbs.
“As we have seen firsthand, the impacts of these wildfires have been devastating, and we’re here to ensure with 100% guarantee that your donations will go directly into the hands of Lahaina residents,” Winfrey said.
“I know a lot of people out there, as Oprah and I have been finding, are just having a hard time trusting where the money goes,” Johnson said, assuring viewers that funds are “clean, direct, from you directly to their hands.”
TMX contributed to this article.
