Giving Hope to Maui’s Keiki and Ohana with Barbara Potts & Sarah Twitchell

Watch or Listen to the full episode

Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE:
Welcome back. And thanks for listening to the Team Lally Real Estate show home of the guaranteed sold program. We’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne and I’m Hawaiian. And if you have any questions, just give us a call at 7999596 or check us out online at Teamlally.com. All

ATTILIO:
right, our first guest moved to Lahaina in 2005. Together with her husband they have been committed to giving back to the community and assisting Lahaina public schools. Joining

ADRIENNE:
us also is a graduate at ASU with a bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Management. She has lived and worked on Maui since 2009 and is proud to call Maui her home. Please welcome today’s guests, Barbara Potts and Sarah Twitchell. Hey,

ATTILIO:
Barbara and Sarah, are you there? We are here. Yes. First, the very most, most important question that I always like to ask of people named Sarah. Were Did your mom and dad name you after the Holland old song. Okay, fortunately, do you even know who haulin oats is? You sound young.

SARAH:
They are not familiar with that song.

ATTILIO:
Okay, now I planted

ADRIENNE:
the seed you need to go. Look it up, Sarah. Well, anyway.

ATTILIO:
So another little fact that I want to share with you when I was reading your intro, I was like, No way. So my daughter Isabella is a graduate of ASU. And guess what? She got her degree in nonprofit management. And she actually she got her master’s degree. Yeah, she got her degree. And she actually went all the way to her Master’s. And then she is one of these weird kids. She got a job in the field right out of college. She works for a Arizona nonprofit. It’s all about like green energy, energy and sustainability. And she got a job right out of college in her field. Isn’t that crazy? Awesome. Yeah. So she’s excited. So hello, Isabella. Every time I call her since she was a little girl. I always say hello beautiful. And yep. So and she is, but anywho. All right. Let’s get back to the topic, Adrienne. So

ADRIENNE:
well, I know that this was not mentioned in the intro. But we know. We know. Barbara and her husband Lee. Because they are some awesome Keller Williams agents over on Maui. Yeah. And they Lahaina was their you know was that was their home. That’s where their office was. That’s where all of their real estate business was based out of and I’m happy to have you guys on the show to talk about this. This

ATTILIO:
is so I’m gonna tell you right now, folks. This is a huge thing. You got Barbara and her husband Lee that lost their real estate business and this was their place and everything that was like home

ADRIENNE:
central kind of just start over and what are they on the show about? Helping others helping others helping the keiki Right,

ATTILIO:
right on so we have two favorite barbaras in our life. Barbara Corcoran, and Barbara doing good.

ADRIENNE:
So on that note, if you guys could share a little bit about how did the Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund start Yes.

BARBARA:
Sarah. I’ll let you talk about that. Yeah.

SARAH:
Yeah, well, I both of us, Barbara and I live here on the west side. And immediately after the fires, I started volunteering and many others on our team started volunteering in the community. And through those volunteer efforts, we just saw the need for the keiki. In this crazy traumatized situation, we realized, that is one way we can make an impact. And so as we were all sharing stories, stories of kids just kept coming up. And we said, what can we do? And who can we get involved in? How can we start? And that was just a couple days after the fire. Awesome.

ATTILIO:
And so how can listeners help increase the number of children keiki? And ohana, who have suffered such a great loss from the August fire? How can our listeners, how can our listeners help?

BARBARA:
We vet you also.

SARAH:
The best way is to go to our Facebook page, it is Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund. They can go on there they can see some of the kids that we’ve helped some of the stories of the parents, and they can donate through Venmo or if they would like a tax deductible donation. We’re thankful to have partnered with Barbara’s nonprofit and they can donate that way for a tax deductible donation.

ATTILIO:
Yeah, just wanted Oh, Adrienne you have something. Oh, I

ADRIENNE:
was just gonna say on on that note, like you’re talking about like going to the website. But let’s, let’s share a couple of success stories with how you guys have been making a difference. Yeah, so far.

BARBARA:
We’ve had 31 applicants so far. And most of these kids 84% of the applicants have lost their home 48% lost or school, a certain percentage of them lost family and you know, their parents lost their homes, their cars and their jobs. So we’ve, we’ve decided just giving a little bit as much as we can, we’ve raised over 220 1000 in the beginning. And so we’ve been able to give $150 per person, per family. And we’re planning to do that each month throughout the school year. So Sarah can talk about how that money’s been used. She’s talked to the applicants and met with them. But we just really want to make sure that we can increase the number of people that we can serve and the level of help that we’re giving them.

ATTILIO:
Nice, you know, just before you, you know, expand upon that, I want to say this, I’m going to business owners. Well, two things. Number one, we know Barbara on a personal level. So if you’re thinking oh, is this a scam? Is this thing legitimate? All Adrienne I need to know is that Barbara is behind this. And I will tell you and we will stack our reputation Team Lally behind Barbara, and tell you that if you’re looking for ways to help, go to this website, go to this you know and tell your whole family forget about getting the free toaster at Walmart on Black Friday, just donate the money. You don’t need more stuff. That’s right, you need to help people that

ADRIENNE:
would be an excellent Christmas gift is donating to this fund. Yeah, like, you know, spending all this money on

ATTILIO:
donated two years from now anywhere and be in the landfill, you don’t need it. The kids need some support the kids needs these are the kids that need your help today. The ones that are didn’t have their house burned down their school burned down or loss of family. There’ll be okay. The other thing I want to share with you business owners, and I’m gonna I’m gonna you know, it’s always with them is the most popular radio station on the planet. I wish it was the team Lally show, but it’s let’s be real. And that stands for what Adrienne, what’s in it for me. So business people come close, come a little bit closer, here’s the deal, make a huge donation to the company to the to this nonprofit, and, you know, whatever posted on your social media, because Adrienne, it’s called for benefit marketing. And where do we get this concept from? What was the company?

ADRIENNE:
So TOMS Shoes is really, you know, good about this, and they even wrote a book on it. When the consumer see two companies that are, you know, equally the same, you can’t tell the difference. Yeah. And when they see that, you know, one company is giving back to you know, the community then they’re going to usually choose that company. If

ATTILIO:
you’re going going toe to toe with a competitor or a couple people and you all look the same 90% of the time the consumer will go with the business that is giving back to their community. So if you want to do more business, write a humongous check, hit that donate and donate button on the website and contribute to these kids. And also

ADRIENNE:
like you know, right before the end of the year, I know some people need to write off some tax deductions. Yeah, this To qualify, and you’ll be doing an excellent thing. Okay, the keiki. So

ATTILIO:
for the question, what is the criteria used to award assistance to the children? The I’ll put some Hawaiian in there, the keiki and the Ohana.

BARBARA:
So as I mentioned, we have we have all these statistics about what is the situation? So the parent fills out the application. And we have all these questions that they’re answering. So did you lose an immediate family member? Did you lose your home? You know, what’s the situation with the school, you know, who’s best all of those questions. And then our team members are reaching out to these people after we get the application in there, meeting them in person, talking to them, making sure that they really understand what the need is. And Sarah can talk a little bit more about that process.

SARAH:
Yeah, I didn’t know that. Reaching out to the families and the children will be such a blessing to me when I call them and when I’ve met with them personally, they’ve been so unbelievably thankful, the kids have been so happy to meet and then I was able to ask, what is your direct need this month? And how can this money help. And then the parents have been able to post on our Facebook page of what they’re able to buy, like, school uniforms for their new school. So the kids don’t stand out and look different than the other kids. Even letting them have a fun day away something to be positive. So it’s been so great to meet the families and just know them in the community personally. Yeah.

ADRIENNE:
So if you if you guys could share the website, the link again, so our listeners, maybe they missed that first part of the show. Where do they go? Yeah, what’s the link? Donate?

SARAH:
To donate, they can go to Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund on Facebook. Now we keiki relief fire fund. And from there, they can donate through Venmo or donate through our nonprofit and it be tax deductible. And

ADRIENNE:
then what about if you are a survivor and you haven’t applied yet? Where’s the best spot to do the application?

ATTILIO:
Is it the same website?

SARAH:
Yes, same now Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund. Yeah. Yes.

ATTILIO:
Well, Maui Keiki, fire wait? Say it again?

BARBARA:
Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund. Fire Relief

ATTILIO:
Fund. Okay. Yeah, yeah. All right. What,

BARBARA:
what are the donate button? And then there’s an Apply button, I believe. Yeah.

ATTILIO:
So you business owners out there people around the world? I don’t know. I’m just gonna speak it because this show does go up on iTunes. So if you’re in, you know, if you’re in the south of France right now live in the baller lifestyle, and you want to feel good about yourself, go to this website and hit that donate button. Okay. And you guys

ADRIENNE:
mentioned to that on the there’s on your Facebook group, that people are, you know, seeing all of the things that they’ve been able to provide for the kids or things that they’ve been able to do with the money? Is that is that a private group? Or is that something that you guys are sharing with the donors?

BARBARA:
Go on that website. Yeah. And so yeah, I guess the only thing I would add is, there are 2700 families living in hotels, 229 living in Airbnb, 253 are living with other families in their homes, we have a real need. So we’ve only been able to find 31 applicants, we were hesitant because a lot of people wanted to be able to give to a nonprofit now that we have that we can really try to get more

ATTILIO:
people to apply. Alright, so Oprah, Jason Momoa, The Rock, get your checkbooks open. And whatever, go post it on your Instagram and get a million hits for the million dollar checks you guys gonna be writing? Because I like the fact that you guys are, you know, I talk about Barbara, you live in this community. I mean, you’re one of the survivors of what happened there. And you’re seeing it firsthand on the ground. You know, what else do you want to share with our listeners? Because I was on the show earlier I just talked about it is that, you know, a majority of the stuff we’re seeing on social media is it just it’s not helpful is the is the most polite way I could say it. So from from your firsthand experience of being a survivor of the Lahaina fires, what would be the the things that you would want our listeners to understand of what happened and what’s going on afterwards?

BARBARA:
Well, I guess the first thing is it just happened so fast. No one could be prepared. No, no one I have talked to was able to know ahead of time and get get ready and get out. I mean, it was just it was a horribly fast terrible thing. Lucky for me, I wasn’t actually in behind at the time. So you know There’s just there. They’ve lost everything. I guess that’s what I would say. People have lost everything. I went to the dentist yesterday and everyone in the dentist office lost their home. And the dentist that I see, you know, I didn’t go in his office because it burned down. So he’s, he’s crammed into another dentist office. And yeah, you know, it’s just, it’s just incredible. The impact just to everyone. I don’t know, I can’t say enough, Sarah, you could probably add to it.

SARAH:
Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s so sad and a lot worse than people realize, to imagine that half our town is completely gone. And one thing that we experienced in the real estate world is that so many are without a home right now. And so if there are owners out there on Maui, that have a second home or have a vacation rental home that’s empty, and they’re willing to host displaced families, that would be really helpful because they’re tired of living in a hotel with no kitchen, and having somewhere stable to be would be great for the kids. Yeah, what

ATTILIO:
did the guests that we had on the show before was a company called it’s a nonprofit that well, they’re not a nonprofit, but they are they work directly with FEMA? They work directly with FEMA called Lima Charlie. And yeah, it’s called Lima Charlie. And they are, we have I think we’ve got two of the KW agents. They’re out there trying to reach owners, property owners. But again, people are hesitant, because they don’t know if it’s a scam. It’s not a scam. We actually know. We personally know, Ron, so dealio and his group, and they have done this and other disaster areas in the mainland that had similar situations. So this is not their first rodeo. And what they’re what they do here is it’s so easy if you’re a homeowner, and you’ve got a vacant property, or maybe even vacation rental, yes, Adrienne. Yeah. So

ADRIENNE:
with the vacation rentals, they will, they won’t give you the market rent, like for a long term rental, they’ll do their best to match what you were getting as a vacation rental.

ATTILIO:
So helping these property owners get some income. And what they do is they sign the lease, they come up with the first and last month, they will handle the rental payments. Until the the survivor

ADRIENNE:
it’s usually I think 12 to 18 months is what they’re estimating like

ATTILIO:
they’ll though they’ll hold the property for that long, but they’re they’re bridging that gap. So that these people can get out of the hotel now have a signed lease ready to go, they’re going to do the property management, you as a homeowner over there, you’re going to get the income, and then we’ll be helping the survivors, you’ll be helping the survivors. And then when FEMA kicks in with the money, then that money goes from FEMA straight to the property owners. They’re just bridging the gap to make it happen now, and they are approved by FEMA. So the best way to do this is you have to register with FEMA. But that obviously everybody not everybody’s registered with FEMA, but I’m sure by now they have, hopefully, where the gap is where the gap is, is property owners, property owners. So please send us an email. It’s easy. info@Teamlally.com will point you in the right direction. Or if you’re getting these calls from that type of organization, take the call take the email respond. It’s legitimate a scam. Again, it’s called Lima Charlie. And Lima Charlie is whatever that it is. That’s military code. It means loud and clear. We hear you Lima Charlie. Yeah, yeah. So what else do you guys want to share? Right? Yeah, go ahead.

BARBARA:
I guess I would say I can’t emphasize how important it is for these families to get some stability. I mean, my own personal experience, my husband and I moved seven times. And then we finally got into the Macondo, where are we living now. But, you know, if you have a family and you have children, and you have to keep moving, don’t know where you’re going to end up. I mean, I’ve talked to so many people that they’ve lost their home, they aren’t going to be able to get into their home or rebuild for maybe two or more years at least. And they there, there’s no stability, there’s no way to know where they’re going to be next month, or, you know, it’s just really hard.

ATTILIO:
So this is the solution. And by the way, there’s more than just one vendor that’s doing this. Again, the challenge is for you property owners is to, you know, if you’re not sure if whoever’s reaching out to you is not some scam or somebody from the mainland China, just give us a call, you know, be a predator, you know, be predators, as far as you know, trying to find something dirt cheap. Give us a call. We’ll tell you if it’s a real deal or not. You can also vet them out by just checking with FEMA, but if you just want a quicker response, we’ve done all the research. So again, we’re pleading, begging you property owners over there, too. Get your properties into the system so that the survivors can be placed and they can have some stability in their life. Just imagine, one day you had a house with all your stuff in it, and your school and your community, and then the next day is all gone. How would you feel? So,

ADRIENNE:
and if you’re not a property owner, you can just donate to this, this keiki fund, yeah, and help the kids because they’re, you know, they’re struggling, they don’t know where they’re going to be living next month.

ATTILIO:
You know, a lot of them. I just, I don’t know if you guys saw, but I forgot what it’s on. I think Netflix or no YouTube there, because you watch like, I’m cheap. So watch the free YouTube movies. But I like I’m a weirdo. I like watching documentaries. And I watch one on seat at the table, I think is the name of it, when they’re over 50 million Americans in the number one country in the world that don’t have enough food to eat. So I can imagine that, that 150 bucks, Maui is very expensive. Maybe they’re just using that food to make sure that the kids are are getting some good food. Because that is the number one thing that is a challenge for people in this situation that their kids get good food so that they can be good students, and reduce the stress of wondering where we’re going to what we’re going to have for dinner tonight. So what else Adrienne or Barbara or Sarah.

SARAH:
I just wanted to thank you already given and thank you to those that are considering it. As well as the business owners who are considering giving at the end of the year, that yes, this money will go directly to the kids, we do meet each family individually. And thank you to those owners that are going to give up their homes because they are providing hope in a place that is very much needed.

ADRIENNE:
Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. And Barb, did you have any closing thoughts as we as we wrap up the show, because we only have a few more minutes before we

ATTILIO:
and then we and then we got a nice surprise for you guys go ahead.

BARBARA:
I’m thankful that we were able to come up with a budget where we could give $150 to the applicants. So we’d be happy to give more. Yeah, if we had more, you know, we’re looking at how much money we’ve raised and how many families have applied. So we’d love to serve more families. And we’d love to be able to give them more because gosh, they they really need it.

ATTILIO:
All right, you business owners. We’re going to call you out. Adrienne you ready to call out these business owners and other realtors? Yeah. All right. So agent and myself Team Lally we are going to within the next 24 hours we’re going to have our team do it but we are going to donate $500 straight to you guys organization to take care of this. Here’s my challenge to everybody else. All you other business owners or you realtors out there we will we like to challenge you to match our donations I like to hear about I want to hear about 20 Different donate 20 Different businesses or Realtors 500 bucks a pop. What is the math on that? 10 grand? Yeah. All right, as we see a team Dolly, let’s do it. That’s it. Let’s go. All right.

BARBARA:
Thanks for the opportunity to talk about it. Awesome.

ADRIENNE:
Thank you. Thank you both for being on the show and sharing with us and all of our listeners. Yes, like everything that you’ve been able to accomplish so far. And looking forward to bringing more awareness and more money so that you can help more kids. And

ATTILIO:
again, see the name of the website two times real slow. What is it again? There.

SARAH:
Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund one more time. Maui Keiki Fire Relief Fund.

ATTILIO:
Yeah. If you’re a business owner, you don’t know how to spell those words. What do you what?

ADRIENNE:
And you can find, if you’d like, go on to Facebook, you’ll find the group there as well. So very easy to find. Yeah. Join it, join it, donate, join it, and then donate. Yeah. Thank you.

ATTILIO:
Thanks so much for being on the show. We

ADRIENNE:
appreciate you both.

ATTILIO:
You take care. All right. Bye bye.

SARAH: 
Mahalo.

Follow Us On Social Media