'Lahaina Is In Our Soul' Murrieta Family Helps Lahaina Fire Victims

MURRIETA, CA — A Murrieta family is helping to support a partially destroyed Lahaina school with a fundraiser. They are pleading with others to give toward the Sacred Hearts School that recently reopened to schoolchildren after being partially destroyed in the deadly Lahaina fires.

The school, a cornerstone of the Lahaina community for 150 years, still holds a place in Kathleen Leonard's heart. Though it's been 16 years since they left Maui, she recalls her son and daughter's first school, Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina, devastated by the West Maui wildfires of early August.

Much of the school where her children first learned to carry the "aloha spirit" has burned into dust, she told Patch.

The Maria Lanakila Church next door, which stood for 160 years, remains largely undamaged, spared from the fires in a way that locals say is "miraculous," according to reports.

Still, the damage Sacred Hearts School underwent is significant, according to Leonard.

Both staff and families are asking for assistance as the traumatized students return to classes. Many of the staff are also suffering loss of home and loved ones. Supporters are bringing in folding tables and chairs, food, and more. Assistance dogs have been brought in to give comfort to the children. There is much more help needed, according to Leonard.

Tonata Lolesio, the school's principal, recently discussed the school's needs with Aletia.org. "We've got to provide some hope and stability for the children and families who remain," she said.

Sacred Hearts School burned once before, in 1971. According to Lolesio, the nuns got Lahaina together to rebuild them. It stood there until 2023 when half the school was destroyed in the fires that leveled much of Lahaina.

A temporary schoolhouse was erected in Kapalua, just north of Lahaina, and the first and second graders have returned to school, Leonard said. Students now sit at folding tables in courtyards and outside under patio covers.

Any help is desperately needed, Leonard said.

"Teachers will be serving their current student population, and many new students need loving and compassionate teachers who care," Leonard said. "Please help these teachers bring love, faith, and some normalcy to their students' lives, as they are still recovering from economic devastation and academic years lost during COVID!"

She hopes to see some love from the mainland and some much-needed "aloha spirit" to the island of Maui, especially Lahaina.

To donate to Sacred Hearts School, visit www.shsmaui.org.