Yuma sends donations to Maui for those in need after deadly wildfires

YUMA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — When the Donovan Law in Yuma announced a donation drive for victims of the Maui fire, help poured in. “Yuma has connections all over the world. We’re a military town, people have been stationed in Honolulu and now they’re in Yuma. We have people we know that are getting the word out on the base. So as much as it seems like little Yuma over here, we are such a connected place,” said Allysia Dorman, Donovan Law office manager.

Dorman says she’s been going to Lahaina since she was 10 years old. “It’s just a special place. I took my kids there last year so they could see Front Street and just breathe the Lahaina air.” The receptionist at their office has a family in Lahaina who lost their home and it only felt right to organize a donation drive.

Dorman says people started donating what they could. They sent their first shipment on Wednesday morning. They sent boxes of new clothes, shoes, toiletries, and even gift cards so locals affected can buy food and gas. All items were shipped to a friend of the law firm who is doing groundwork in Maui. “We have friends in Wailuku. She gave us her address so we’re shipping directly to a local woman that is tirelessly working on the ground in Maui. She’s going from village to village, she’s going to a homeless encampment delivering meals, she’s extraordinary,” Dorman said.

Dorman said local UPS stores, including one in Phoenix, donated free shipping labels and they’ll be sending out a second shipment to Maui. They also have a GoFundMe where people can donate money. Dorman says that money will be used to ship things directly through Amazon.

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