Lahaina Canoe Club member
(from Go Fund Me)
My name is Primo Bolo III, I’m a former resident of Lāna’i, HI but currently reside in NYC. I’m collecting donations on behalf of my relatives–the Baniaga and Cabreros families– who were greatly affected by the wildfires that consumed Historic Lāhainā Town on August 8, 2023.
With the absence of emergency sirens across Lāhainā, my aunty Rosalina Baniaga, cousin Nadia Cabreros along with her husband Kaleo and four kids Kaena (10), Lahela (9), Kuakea (6), and Akela (4) rushed to evacuate their home with very little notice while my uncle, Benson Baniaga, was at work with his respective hotels on the west side of Maui. The wildfire quickly moved across Lāhainā Town, destroying everything in its path at about a mile a minute. The life and community they knew for the past 24 years were gone in a matter of hours. They lost their homes, their cars, their cats, and all of their material possessions. This devastating fire will continue to affect their lives for years as they navigate what the next steps will look like for their family and process the damages and loss.
If it is within your capacity, I am humbly asking for any monetary donations to help support their immediate loss of income as they are determined to stand with their community and keep their family in Lāhainā. All contributions will directly go towards their immediate needs for temporary housing, support the next steps, and fund essentials for their entire family.
Any contribution would be extremely appreciated by our entire family. Additionally, we humbly ask you to share this with others and on social media.
If you have any physical donations, please reach out to me or anyone in my family on Lāna’i or Oahu.
Some details about my family...
Rosalina, Benson and their daughter Nadia were former residents of Lāna’i until Benson moved to Lāhainā in the winter of 1999 to work for the hospitality industry. Rosalina and Nadia followed in 2002 when Nadia was able to attend Lāhainā Luna High School. Benson and Rosalina, who emigrated from the Philippines in the 80s, worked multiple jobs in the Hospitality Industry for years so they could afford to build a new life in Lāhainā for their family and buy their first home on Kopili Street.
Nadia later married her husband Kaleo Cabreros, who was born and raised on Maui and lived in Lāhainā after graduating from Lāhainā Luna High School in 2004. They have four beautiful children, Kaena (10), Lahela (9), Kuakea (6), and Akela (4). Together with their parents, they all moved into a new home on Kahoma Street and functioned as a loving multi-generational household. Kaleo worked as a shift manager for Starbucks and Nadia is a full-time caregiving parent who provides home-based education for her children. They are all active members of the former Kings Cathedral chapter in Lāhainā where Kaleo was a minister and Nadia served with the Generations Youth Ministry. More recently, they have been active members of the Lāhainā Outrigger Canoe Club on Hanaka’ō’ō Beach where they practiced the traditional sport of Hawaiian Canoe racing called “Hei Hei Wa’a” with other members of their community and competed across the islands–honoring this ancient practice of sea voyaging.
