SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento woman and her family are collecting donations to go toward helping those fleeing from and suffering through the deadly Maui wildfires.
Christina Ramirez says her sister and brother-in-law and their children are luckily okay but still in Hawaii. Luckily, their home has not been impacted by the blaze.
"It has been a little hard,” she said. "[I’ve been] reaching out to local family to see if they've heard any updates."
Brother-in-law James Nelson, a Sacramento native, former marine and current captain of a Hawaiian sea tour group, has been busy trying to help.
"He's out there running the cruise ship back and forth from island to island and getting people that are stranded back to safe places,” said Ramirez.
After feeling a sense of helplessness, Ramirez began raising funds and taking donations to send over to the island to get to her family and survivors.
"When I heard that the mail was still running is when I was like, ‘I can help,’" she said. “I've already raised about $1,200.”
She’s worked out a deal with Exotic Auto Recycling in Rancho Cordova to handle shipping materials to Hawaii.
They’re still taking donations and are asking for hygienic and baby materials like: toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, baby bottles, razors, feminine hygiene pads.
It’s a little something she hopes will go a long way.
“It's from West Sac to Maui and seeing what we can do here," she said.
Ramirez set up an Amazon wish list for items they’re looking to send to Hawaii. Find the full thing HERE.
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