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Minnesotans pitch in to help Hawaiians impacted by Maui fires

Minnesotans are rallying together to help out with Maui relief efforts, from volunteering with the Red Cross to cooking up ribs for a good cause.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans are pitching in to help out with Maui relief efforts, from volunteering with the Red Cross to cooking up ribs for a good cause. 

Susan Sparling-Micks has been in Hawaii with the Red Cross for days now, working phone lines and trying to help people find the missing.

"People have been calling into centers asking for help finding missing family or loved ones," she said. 

She says most of the callers she's talked to have had happy reunions, but some still haven't heard back.

"Notification of next to kin has been slow-going," she said. "It's kind of taking time. People are still missing. That part has been hard." 

Sparling-Micks is one of 10 volunteers there, but that's expected to change in the coming weeks as the Red Cross said another group is scheduled to arrive.

Charlie Torgerson owns and runs RC's Barbeque at the Minnesota State Fair. His new menu item this year, Maui-Sota Sticky Ribs, was created while using a friend's smoker in Lahaina.

 "It's a lot of pain and suffering. For my community, for my friends, it's been tough."

Torgerson's friend in Lahaina is Denise Black. She owns the event venue, Lahaina Loft. It burned down in the fire a week ago. 

"We're fortunate that we're all alive," said Black. "Because there are so many other people that are not as lucky as we are right now."

She says she feels grateful for people like her friend Charlie, who will donate some proceeds from the ribs he sells at the Minnesota State Fair to Operation BBQ Relief, an organization helping feed those displaced on Maui. 

"It's what we can do for now," said Torgerson.

Black said she is lucky her home is safe in Kihei, but a neighboring business, CocoNene, had team members displaced by the fire. They now have a GoFundMe taking donations. 

Another business owner, Chase Anderson, is putting together a silent auction to donate proceeds to Maui.

Anderson lived in Lahaina for four years before moving to Minnesota. 

"It's heartbreaking," he said. 

Anderson, the owner of local business The Agate Dude, said he's hoping people will come to Excelsior Brewing Company on Sept. 10 to help raise money to put toward relief efforts. 

For more information about the Sept. 10 fundraiser, click here.

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