NORFOLK, Va. — Teams with Hampton Roads-based organization Mercy Chefs have been on the ground in Maui for nine days, providing relief to the thousands impacted by wildfires.
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Hampton Roads relief organizations provide support to Hawaii as wildfires burn
Mercy Chefs is working out of two churches on the island. One is in Lahaina, where more than 100 people died in the wildfires.
Lead Chef and Founder Gary LeBlanc said 4,000 to 5,000 meals are being served every day.
"I don't think I've seen anything on that television that even comes close to how bad the fire was," LeBlanc said. "Forty percent people in the congregation have lost their homes."
The church, LeBlanc says, has been a place of refuge for thousands.
"Many of the people that are coming don't have homes to go back to," he said. "Some of them have lost family, some of them we just found wandering Lahaina days after the fire, just sort of dazed and lost."
LeBlanc said the fire has been devastating to the island's economy which was just beginning to recover from the pandemic and the loss of tourism.
In 18 years, LeBlanc said Mercy Chefs has provided relief for all sorts of disasters, including wildfires in California.
But this situation is different. He calls the suffering "indescribable".
"We met one family that still hasn't been able to locate two of the people in their family," he said. "They're still hoping for the best, but the reality is that on an island, there are only so many places that people can go."
LeBlanc said his crews met a man who's lived on the island for at least 40 years. His house burned down.
"He has no family or other social network," LeBlanc said. "He was just wandering the streets, lost, not knowing what to do. And the church was able to bring him in."
Mercy Chefs' teams will be in Hawaii for at least another week and a half, LeBlanc said. They hope to return at Thanksgiving and Christmas to continue providing relief.
"This has been gut-wrenching," he said. "We've seen a lot of things, but this level of loss of life, knowing from talking to people how many of those folks missing are children, it's just soul-crushing.
You can donate to Mercy Chefs by clicking here.
