Hawaiian Eye and Retina 2024: All of us can help Maui community recover
THOROFARE, NJ — We are deeply saddened by the devastating and deadly impact of the wildfires that swept through Maui just a month ago.
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy, including the many friends and colleagues on the island we have come to know through more than 30 years of the Hawaiian Eye and Retina Meeting. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to those grappling with so much loss in the aftermath of the disaster.
Image: Stiglich J.
To assist those in need, the Wyanoke Group has donated $10,000 to the Hawaii Community Foundation on behalf of the annual Hawaiian Eye and Retina Meeting. The Foundation and Aloha United Way are agencies recommended to us by Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono and both are mobilizing resources to assist with disaster response and recovery. We will also be fundraising onsite in Maui for those who plan to attend Hawaiian Eye and Retina 2024.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a press conference on the recovery efforts that aside from West Maui, the rest of Maui and the other islands are safe to visit, and he encouraged people to travel to the state.
It is important that we keep tourism functioning throughout other areas of Maui in the wake of the devastating wildfires West Maui has endured. Keeping the economy strong is the best way we can help Maui residents. Many of the victims and their families depend on tourism dollars to make a living, and visiting this winter will give residents the means and ability to rebuild their lives and communities.
“The Hawaiian Eye and Retina meeting has been hosted by the citizens of Hawaii since 1977. Our friends who live in Hawaii support themselves and their families through tourism and meetings like ours,” Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, Hawaiian Eye Program Director, said. “Our meeting supported Hawaii through the challenging Covid-19 pandemic, and now we intend to support them as they recover from the devastating fires in Lahaina, West Maui. The Maui airport, ground transportation, hotels, restaurants, and recreational sights in South, East and North Maui, including the Grand Wailea, are untouched and as alluring as ever. Please join us this January in Wailea and enjoy an amazing educational experience in paradise while supporting our Maui friends.”
Hawaiian Eye and Retina 2024 will be held January 13 to 19 at the Grand Wailea in Maui. We look forward to hosting 1,500+ attendees from all over the world this winter and will help give back to the island the meeting has called home for more than three decades.
“My friends and family on Molokai and Maui have been spared and are all safe. Not everyone has been as fortunate to say the same. Lahaina is already suffering, but the people outside of Lahaina will also suffer if tourism halts,” Dr. John Corboy, Eye Misson of the Pacific, said. “East Maui is safe, open for business and eager for visitors. The Grand Wailea Resort is enthusiastic about hosting our group in January. And, of course, we intend to visit with respect and compassion while spreading aloha to as many businesses and residents as possible. We’ve had many years of good times on Maui, and we’ll continue to be there for them in the tough times, too.”
For more information on the meeting or how you can help, please visit our website.