Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne JohnsonOn August 17, 2023, a wildfire’s aftermath is seen near Lahaina, Hawaii. The People’s Fund of Maui, established by Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson to aid those affected by the disasters last summer, has distributed nearly $60 million to 8,100 adults in just six months, according to the nonprofit Entertainment Industry Foundation.
Who receives the assistance?
Living on a corner lot since 1991, Vierra was a mother of five and a grandmother of four. The deadliest wildfire to affect the United States in almost a century forced her and her ten family members—among them a baby who was less than a year old—to flee.
In the weeks that followed, she and her grown children requested for and were granted various forms of support, including from the People’s Fund of Maui, an endeavor founded by Dwayne Johnson and Oprah Winfrey.
Vierra’s family has made an effort to save every present that she has received, including money from a GoFundMe that she and her family created, cash gifts from strangers given to her daughter’s Venmo account, and money from a campaign that Fox News anchor Will Cain launched. Though such plans are still far off, they will require that money and more to repair.
She expressed their sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed and for the quick setup of mutual aid in the wake of the flames. The majority of people got help in the initial weeks following the fire through these neighborhood initiatives, according to Maui-based lawyer Lance Collins, who is defending a few survivors.
Fund for Maui
Winfrey and Johnson invited others to join them in committing $10 million to the People’s Fund for Maui, which provided aid to those who lost their homes to flames. The request was criticized at the time, in part because of Winfrey’s substantial estate in Maui and her riches.
Ultimately, about $60 million was raised, according to the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a seasoned charity that assists famous people in managing philanthropic endeavors and oversaw the distribution of the proceeds. Approximately 8,100 adults received that money between September and February, making up a sizeable fraction of the 12,000 persons the state of Hawaii believes were displaced.