HONOLULU (KHON2) — Two towns linked by tragedy plan on coming together next year on the field. Both sides agree – no matter what the score is, everyone’s a winner.
A small town decimated by fire. Dozens killed. Thousands of homes and families destroyed. Billions of dollars in damage.
If you’re from Hawaii, that’s the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. But for those in Northern California, that’s the 2018 Camp Fire.
“It looked very similar, some of those aerial shots,” said Christy Voigt, Paradise High School co-principal. “I think that was probably the hardest part, but immediately this community and more specifically our campus and our students, wanted to know what they could do.”
The town is called Paradise. Folks there immediately made shirts to raise money in support of Lahaina. But they wanted to do more. The idea – football.
“One other thing we have in common with Maui is the love and passion for football and how it got us through those first tough couple years,” said Voigt.
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“The Lahainaluna sports in general is a proud tradition at school,” said Jonathan Conrad, Lahainaluna High School Athletics Director. “It’s definitely one of them is the beacon of light on top of the hill overlooking the community.”
The two teams are scheduled to play a home-and-away series, with Paradise coming to play the Lunas on Maui next September. And the Lunas head to California the following year.
“When you have bad things happen, it’s pretty easy to focus on those every once in a while,” said Jerry Cleek, Paradise High Athletics Director. “And just to help people with their lives in a small way.”
“Big kudos to them for helping us,” said Conrad. “You know, keep our mud boots on and trudge through the waters because it’s, it’s sticky. We are making strides, we are getting better every single day.”
Both the Lunas and the Bobcats say these games are more than just football. They’re about resilience, respect and the power of community.
“We want to inspire and help however we can to show them that they can rebuild and be stronger than before,” said Voigt.
“That it’s, you know, to kind of hopefully bolster us to another level that we can regain some traction and speed and move forward in a more positive light,” said Conrad.
Paradise has a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of travel.