IRVING, Texas & HONOLULU, Hawaii—Nexstar Media Group has announced that the fundraising effort by station in Honolulu, KHON2, has raised $1,187,712 in donations to assist victims affected by the recent wildfires that devastated Maui.
In addition to the KHON2 funds, Nexstar’s KLAS-TV raised $134,253 in donations from a telethon and Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation made a $20,000 donation.
The contributions were designated to the Hawaii Wildfires Relief Fund of the Hawaii Red Cross.
On Monday, August 14, KHON2 held a telethon with the Hawaii Red Cross, during Wake Up 2Day, Take2, and Living808. The telethon was called “Malama Maui” which means “Let’s Take Care of Maui,” and was streamed live on KHON2.com. The station also collected and aired celebrity messages to gain support for the Hawaii Red Cross. These included messages from Hawaii-born President Barack Obama, NFL player Marcus Mariota, musician Iam Tongi, Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Nicole Scherzinger, Henry Kapono, and more.
“The Maui fires have devastated the people of our state and our team at KHON2 wanted to do everything possible to support the victims of these fires,” said Kristina Lockwood, vice-president and general manager of KHON-TV. “We wanted to use our platform and our collective resources to make a difference. The Hawaii Red Cross is working 24/7 to help the people of Maui, and we are so happy to support their efforts. Recovering from a wildfire of this magnitude will take time and the full community coming together, and we want to do everything we can to help and show our personal support for Maui and the Hawaii Red Cross.”
Since the fires began on August 8th, the Red Cross has provided more than 4,200 overnight shelter stays in 12 emergency shelters on Maui and Oahu, provided more than 28,600 meals and snacks to people in need while also successfully completing more than 550 reunification information requests.
“We are so appreciative of Nexstar and KHON,” said Diane Peters-Nguyen, CEO of Hawaii Red Cross. “This outpouring of support in our worst ever disaster means so much. These donations will make a difference for so many people on Maui! Thank you so much!”
The Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation’s mission is to contribute to and work with public charities and non-profit organizations to improve the communities in which Nexstar Media and its subsidiaries do business. The foundation was originally established in 1958 and it makes donations of approximately $350,000 annually.
