Southern Nevada community rallies to send donations to Maui wildfire victims

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Here in the Las Vegas Valley, donations continue to pour in from people across Southern Nevada to help the families impacted by the Maui fires.

Today, I followed up with the man who helped spearhead an effort that he says will help thousands in his hometown of Lahaina.

During a time of desperate need in Maui, people here in Southern Nevada are responding to the call for action.

“We are in the thousands, yes, Nevada stepped up to be able to fill 15 containers, 40-foot containers.”

I talked to Jai Alboro before he caught a flight Wednesday to his hometown of Lahaina.

Last Friday, Channel 13 talked to him about a fundraiser he initiated to collect essential household items to send to Lahaina.

Two days after he started collecting, he posted to Instagram and already four 40-foot containers had been sent.

Delta airlines has even partnered with him to fly the items out to Hawaii.

“We sent out essentials first, we have a lot of pallets of water, pallets of diapers and wipes, pallets of toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper,” Alboro said.

He’s heading to Maui to see his family and help distribute the donations as they arrive.

At some point, he had to stop trying to get donations due to the overwhelming turnout. Alboro credits the success of his mission to exposure from Las Vegas MMA Fighter Pololu Nakanelua, from the east side of Maui.

While our Channel 13 crew was at the warehouse however, donations kept rolling in.

“They need action and if we are going to go around flaunting who we are and what we are about this is the time to show it,” Nakanelua said.

Alboro says the storing and shipping of these items could not have been done without the owner of Worldwide Safety, Virginia Toalepai.

“We are all related, so when the need is there we open up our doors to them,” Toalepai said.

Alboro says his family and the people of Lahaina are thankful for the generosity of locals here in the valley.

“100% overwhelmed and appreciative of my volunteers, none of this could have been done, this is not me, this is Nevada.”