Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson pledged $10 million for Maui wildfire survivors. They gave much more.

Lana Vierra misses the swing at her Lahaina home, which was burned to the ground in forest fires that swept through his community last summer.

Several generations have passed by there to play in my yard,” she said. “Just with the animals, the turtles, the deer and the goats that we used to have in that little yard.

A grandmother of four and mother of five, Vierra had lived in the street corner house since 1991. She and ten family members, including a baby less than a year old, were moved into the The deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century. In the weeks that followed, she and her adult children requested and received many types of assistance, including from the People's Fund of Maui, an initiative established by Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson.

All except one adult son have since received six monthly payments of $1,200 directly into their People's Fund bank accounts. Vierra believes those payments helped them stay current on their mortgage, which they had to pay even though the house was destroyed. When she learned she would receive direct payments, she said: “It was in my mind that if I had to use it, I had it. And it would probably save my house.

When Winfrey and Johnson launched the People's Fund for Maui, benefiting people who lost their homes in wildfires, they committed $10 million and asked others to join. At the time, the request drew some criticism, particularly given Winfrey's wealth and vast estate in Maui.

Ultimately, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a longtime nonprofit that helps celebrities run charities and manages the distribution of funds, reported raising nearly $60 million. This money was distributed between September and February to some 8,100 adults, a significant portion of the 12,000 people estimated by the State of Hawaii to be displaced.

The foundation wouldn't say exactly how much Winfrey and Johnson gave in total, but a list of other contributors indicates the bulk came from them. The EIF said more than 20,000 individuals and businesses have donated to the fund.

In September, Winfrey posted a video on social media thanking her supporters, saying: Your generosity, I guarantee you, will touch the lives of many families.

Over the years, the disaster response community began to view direct cash transfers like these as a very useful tool, said Shannon Doocy, a professor at Johns University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hopkins. Despite initial fears of misuse, she said, research has shown that cash transfers overwhelmingly benefit the intended beneficiaries, who spend them on essentials like housing and food.

In general, cash is believed to provide dignity and choice, and is a more cost-effective use of aid, Doocy said. Because not all households have exactly the same needs and households know their needs better than outside organizations.

Many nonprofit organizations and government programs now use direct cash transfers, particularly on Maui, following disasters.

Vierra's family tried to save all the money she received, including from a GoFundMe set up by family members, direct gifts strangers sent to her daughter's Venmo account and 'a gift from a fundraiser started by Fox News host Will Cain. They will need this money and much more to rebuild, even if these projects are still very far away.

She said they were extremely grateful to everyone who donated and for mutual aid efforts which were installed immediately after the fires. It was because of these grassroots efforts that most people received help in the first weeks after the fire, said Maui-based attorney Lance Collins, who represents some survivors.

People felt that in general there was a huge outpouring of generosity from individuals and community groups and I think Oprah and The Rock fell into that category, he said.

Most of Vierra's family members were stay in hotelsa first boon for disaster response in a community where demand for housing was already extremely high before 12,000 people lost their homes in the fires. However, uncertainty and mental health concerns have increased among people staying in hotels, according to nonprofits working with them, said Lauren Nahme, senior vice president of the Maui Recovery Effort at Hawaii Community Foundation.

In January, state and county governments, along with the foundation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, announced a $500 million commitment to build 3,000 housing units that would provide shelter for displaced people for at least 18 month. The foundation committed $50 million to the effort, its largest grant from its Maui Strong fund, which it opened immediately after the wildfires. In total, the fund has raised $189 million from more than 250,000 people around the world.

The foundation followed a disaster response plan it developed in 2019, in anticipation of a possible catastrophic event. It has disbursed $89 million in grants so far, deliberately directing the majority of its support toward recovery and stabilization efforts that will extend over months and years. This is work that direct cash transfers will not be able to do, including providing services, strengthening social support systems, and rebuilding with the next potential disaster in mind.

Kaimana Brummel, who leads fundraising at Seabury Hall, a private school on Maui, was asked to share her thoughts on the design of the Peoples Fund of Maui. She suggested that the fund make every displaced adult eligible for a direct cash transfer, rather than every household.

Brummel said what she saw of Winfrey and Johnson's approach made her feel like they were approaching this gift with the spirit of a Hawaiian word, kahiau. And that means giving generously, without expecting to get anything in return.

Barry Probst, a therapist whose family has lived in Lahaina for four generations, said the best-case scenario is that he and his wife will rebuild and move into a new home in 2026. They are lucky to stay in a second bedroom a condo. owned by good friends, who spend half the year in Hawaii. He used the funds he received from the People's Fund of Maui to pay for his car repair twice and also to complete intensive trauma treatment training that he hopes to use to help others in the community.

For the rest of the world, Aug. 8 is an event that happened and they are rightly moving on with their lives, Probst said. But for us who have been directly affected and live here, it's something we have to deal with on a daily basis.