At the heart of Lahaina town on the Hawaiian island of Maui grows a banyan tree that spans 1.94 acres and rises more than 60 feet into the air. The tree is considered by many to be “the heartbeat of Lahaina,” and not just because it boasts 16 trunks and a quarter-mile circumference that make it the largest banyan tree in the entire United States. The tree was planted all the way back in 1873, a gift from Protestant missionaries from India, and marked its 150th birthday earlier this year. It’s also, famously, a symbol of resilience for the people of Lahaina, given the fact that the tree once survived a 1919 New Year’s Day blaze that destroyed dozens of buildings in the town.

Now, an even more devastating fire is raging on Maui – one that has killed more than 100 people and destroyed some 3,000 homes, businesses, and other buildings, including much of the town of Lahaina. Hundreds more people are currently missing, and losses from the fire are estimated at $6 billion and counting. For all the devastation, though, Lahaina’s iconic banyan tree is still standing.

Traverse City’s Rachel Proffer chokes up as she relays that piece of information to The Ticker. Raised in Traverse City – and living here now – Proffer spent a decade living on Maui, from 2004 to 2014. For much of that time, she lived near the heart of Lahaina town, right in the midst of where fires have been raging since August 8, and a stone's throw from the town's iconic tree.

“I lived at 505 Front Street, which is right in between the famous banyan tree and the famous Shops at 505,” Proffer tells The Ticker. “Those buildings are gone now; the shops are gone. But the banyan tree, as of now, is still standing, and arborists are hopeful that it will survive. The leaves are charred, the bark is burnt. They're not sure that it will make it. But it will bring so much hope to Lahaina if that tree survives.”

Inspired by the resilience of the banyan tree and by her love for Lahaina and the people who live there, Proffer has been racking her brain for a way to do something – however small – to help with the wildfire relief efforts on Maui. Last week, she launched a Facebook group called “Northern Michigan helping Lahaina Maui” with the goal of being a convener and connector for locals who want to help but don’t know where to start.

So far, Proffer has been using the group to drive attention to businesses and grassroots efforts on the ground in Lahaina, in hopes that she can direct donations their way. In one post, she suggested that Traverse City locals could donate to Chef Joey Macadangdang, a restauranteur in Lahaina who she worked for during her first five years living on Maui. Chef Joey, Proffer wrote, has been preparing 2-3 meals per day to feed people displaced by the fires and needs help to keep those efforts going. In another post, she directed attention to an organization on Maui that is collecting art supplies for kids, to “keep the little ones busy” doing art activities while fires rage on the island.

Proffer’s goal, she says, is to “put a northern Michigan face with these organizations and these people,” so that locals can see who and what their donations – whether financial or material – are helping support.

“I know that, for me and a lot of the people I know, I'd much rather see my donations and my money go to someone personally, versus to big organizations,” Proffer explains. “The Red Cross is great. FEMA is great. But they work worldwide. And from reports that I'm getting from Lahaina, those big organizations are not the ones that are helping the people. It is the people helping the people. And that's really how the Hawaiian community operates: If something happens, everybody bands together and helps out.”

In addition to the Facebook group, Proffer is hoping soon to “set up donation centers around northern Michigan” to collect supplies that can be sent directly to the people of Lahaina.

“I’m going to talk to a bunch of local business owners and see if they are willing to help, either by donating or by providing a place where people can come and drop things off,” she says. “And then we can get those supplies out to Maui somehow, probably via Aloha Air Cargo; I’m trying to figure out where their closest port or closest hub is. And then I have a bunch of people I know who drive semi-trucks, and I’m hoping that they will donate their time to fill a truck and take it to Aloha Air Cargo, in order for the supplies to get shipped out to Maui.”

Proffer isn’t the only northern Michigander trying to help out with the situation in Lahaina. Restaurant Partners Management, the parent company behind several local restaurants – including both Omelette Shoppe locations, The Original Flap Jack Shack, Apache Trout Grill, West End Tavern, and Boone’s Prime Time Pub in Suttons Bay – announced last week that its restaurants would be “dedicating an entire day of giving back” to respond to the Maui fires. Today, Tuesday, August 22, all of Restaurant Partners Management’s locations “will be donating 100 percent of profits to the Hawaiian Restaurant Association Relief Fund and American Red Cross Hawaii Wildfires Disaster Relief Fund, who are currently working to rally the restaurants on the island around the community and provide aid to those in need.”

Pictured: The famous Lahaina banyan tree in 2019. Credit: Karon Elliott Edleson, Flickr.