Bellevue West student council dedicated the football game against Creighton Prep on Aug. 18 to raising funds for a program that supports Maui residents recovering from the wildfires.
On Aug. 8, wildfires began sweeping across Lahaina, Hawaii. The wildfires have killed at least 115 people, with more than a thousand still unaccounted for, according to NPR. Two thousand hectares of land were burned, damage was done to electrical systems and buildings, and areas of cultural importance, including artifacts, were lost.
According to senior Sadie Murphy, the group debated whether to keep the Hawaiian theme, which had been decided before the wildfire’s onset.
“We thought it [the theme] would be disrespectful to what’s going on, but we decided to keep it,” Murphy said. “We wanted to do a moment of silence, but we didn’t think that would go well at a football game, so we decided to do a donation collection.”
According to student council sponsor Epley Hamilton, Maui Nui Strong was chosen because of the specific things the program would benefit.
“Whether it was getting water to residents, making sure that the residents have a place to stay… it’s really also providing counseling to families that lost kids,” Hamilton said.
After deciding to take donations, student council posted about the dedication on their Instagram page, had signs outside the game and had students taking donations at the door of the game with decorated buckets. Key Club assisted with collecting donations during the game.
“We had a couple of announcements during the game,” Hamilton said. “And then our Key Club leadership team was walking through [the stands].”
According to Hamilton, student council raised $784 and Key Club raised around $200, making the groups’ total contribution almost $1,000 for Maui Nui Strong.
“We just wanted to bring awareness to it,” junior Breeyen Svacina said. “We wanted to show our support, especially because our theme for the football game was Hawaiian. So we just wanted to show respect to them and help them and support them.”
