AUSTIN, Texas —
The Austin-area foodie community rallied together Saturday to help fundraise for those impacted by the wildfire in Maui, more than 3,000 miles away
Dozens of Austin-based restaurants agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds Saturday to the Maui Food Bank for an event called "Dine with Maui."
"It honestly means a lot. I have chicken-skin goosebumps just thinking about it, just seeing the turnout like this," said Nalani Strong, the owner of Nalani Bakeshop.
Strong is from Maui and now lives in Austin. She said she was personally impacted by the fires when her grandfather lost his home and business.
"Thank God my grandpa was saved. It was by the grace of God that he woke up during the fire," Strong said. "But, sadly, his house is completely gone ... And my mom is an insurance agent, so she's experiencing a lot of calls and whatnot for all the fires and everything."
Strong immediately wanted to help as soon as she could.
"As soon as I knew that the fires were happening, I wanted to hop on a plane immediately and go home. But my mom was like, 'Listen, you're going to do us a lot more if you stay out in Austin, do fundraisers,'" Strong said.
So Strong joined the "Dine with Maui" fundraiser, organized Amanda Wong, the owner and operator of austinfoodadventures.com and the Instagram account of the same name.
"Basically, I just had this feeling I really want to help out Maui. I originally had a vacation planned to Maui in September. I actually ended up having to cancel in light of the recent events," Wong said.
Wong said she knew something had to be done after seeing the devastation caused by the wildfires.
"That really struck a chord with me because I've been watching weeks of beautiful videos planning my trip [to] Lahaina. I think it shows that in times of need, even if it's for someone that's far away, Austinites are really willing to get together and find any ways to help. And a lot of it has to do is with the amazing business owners," Wong said.
Another restaurant, Ramen Del Barrio, also proudly participated in the event.
"Obviously, over 100 people to see us now. It's tragic. And it's just an opportunity to try and do right for someone else. Try and bring some joy to someone who's probably going through a lot of pain right now," said Chris Krinsky, Ramen Del Barrio's chef and owner.
People came out to support by donating money and, of course, enjoying what was served.
"I don't need an excuse to eat this really good food, but I know they're doing a fundraiser," customer Kristen Slonsky said.
Slonsky grew up in Hawaii, and her family came to Shoyo Sugar because they wanted to show love to a restaurant that was also from the island.
"It's hard to not cry when you look at it, and you feel like there's really nothing you can do. But at least here you feel like you're doing something," Slonsky said.
"Seeing that people out here in Austin care about Hawaii as much as they do to be a part of this fundraiser and to be here to just show love, show aloha, show support, it means a lot, honestly, from someone that is from Maui," Nalani said.
Wong said the event raised $51,514 for the Maui Food Bank. Nalani's bake shop donated her $300 to Maui Family Life Center and Shoyu Sugar donated an additional $2537 to Chef Hui Foundation. Those extra donations were not included in the final total.