Celebrity Chefs Join Musicians To Speed Up Rebuild In Maui, Hawaii

Mick Fleetwood (center) of Fleetwood Mac talks with actor and cultural advisor Vene Chun at last year's music and food benefit for survivors of 2023 Maui wildfires.

J. Anthony Martinez Photography

As a restoration group completes a plan to rebuild historic buildings damaged by tragic wildfires two years ago in Maui, world-class chefs and professional musicians have announced benefit concerts in two cities to accelerate rebuilding in Lahaina and provide food for needy residents.

The Maui Music + Food Experience kicks off Aug. 15-16 at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa and moves to Chicago Nov. 7. Performers at the Maui resort will include Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers and Bernard Fowler. Six top chefs will cook, including Los Angeles-based Gabrielle Chappel, a winner of Fox's Next Level Chef TV program, and Ryan Von Smith, who finished third at the World Master Chefs Competition in China.

Chef and musician Naiwi Teruya peforms in Maui at last year's music and food benefit for survivors of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire.

J. Anthony Martinez Photography

Last year's Maui Music + Food Experience raised $250,000 for Lahaina survivors. Maui resident Mick Fleetwood, the drummer of Fleetwood Mac, and Billy Cox of the Jimi Hendrix Experience were among the performers. Two of Fleetwood's businesses, a restaurant and a retail store, were destroyed in the wildfires.

The music and food benefits this year are expected to attract 1,500 people and aim to raise another $250,000 through ticket sales, auctions and donations at the events.

"Money raised in the Maui Music + Food Experience goes to programs for Maui residents affected by the fires, including a hot meal program, and the new Maui Youth Music Program for young people in the fire-affected areas," says Gary Grube, the founder of the Hua Momona Foundation in Lahaina. The nonprofit foundation sponsors the music and food events.

Grube expects proceeds this year to help provide 10,000 hot meals and ukuleles and instruction to 50 young musicians.

The wildfires on Aug. 8, 2023, were caused by high winds and dry weather, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "These wildfires affected approximately 1,550 parcels, 2,200 structures and were one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in at least the past 100 years," the EPA's website says.

The Associated Press reported that 102 people were killed.

"The injuries and loss of life from these fires are staggering," a three-author 2024 study published in the American Journal of Public Health said. "Early recovery efforts have already unveiled anxiety, depression and survivor's guilt, which, when added to the colonial, historical and intergenerational trauma already present in this community, may result in higher substance misuse and suicidal ideation."

Besides concerns about the physical well-being of survivors and their families, "there was estimated overall damage of $5.52 billion," the study said. "Historic structures such as the Old Lahaina Courthouse and Heritage Museum with its historic artifacts and the Waiola Church as the final resting ground for early royal family members no longer exist. Other landmarks, such as a 150-year-old banyan tree where many generations created memories, are still in danger."

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation, according to the The Maui News, is nearly finished with its master plan for rebuilding the Old Lahaina Courthouse, the Lahaina Prison, the Baldwin Home and the Master's Reading Room, Seamen's Hospital, Plantation House and Hale Aloha.

Theo Morrison, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation's executive director, said the exterior of the buildings will look the same as they once were, but the interiors may change.

Morrison, according to The Maui News, said she looks forward to the Lahina harbor being accessible to boaters and visitors in the future, because 70% of visitors participate in ocean activities.

Pro golfer Collin Morikawa (center) and his wife Kat do volunteer work last year at Hua Momona Farms, which next month presents a music and food festival that aims to help Maui residents affected by 2003 wildfires. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

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