The Luau for Lahaina will be one island helping another

The devastation in Maui after the tragic fires is something that has continued for the last month.

Dr. Bruce Boros, from Advanced Urgent Care in the Florida Keys and a renowned cardiologist, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about a fundraiser that will help.

The Luau for Lahaina will be held on September 29 to donate to the Maui Strong Fund.

Dr. Boros said, “This is one of those things that just really was in my face, being a cardiovascular specialist and caring for people for years, you see them at their most troubled times. After kind of a shaky start and a really unusual story, Scott and I decided to try to create a location I’d like to say we’re making for the locals. The EmPOURium, which is the ultimate name now, because we have a number of venues under one roof 618 Duvall, is a very large property.”

Scott Taylor, owner of Kaya Island Eats in Key West, is from Lahaina.

Dr. Boros said, “When this event happened, Scott immediately was sending me pictures out there and I’m going oh my god, this is like this is one of the most incredible catastrophes, and it hit the news cycle for about 24 to 36 hours and then the only way he was getting information to try to locate his friends, it was getting nowhere. It was just destruction, destruction, destruction. He was just sinking emotionally as anybody would. I’m watching Scott as he’s trying to find his friends from out there, the business people, the family that he has out there, and I’m going oh, my God, this is horrific. There was this empathy that I had for him. We all have empathy for people that are going through similar scenarios. But I can’t even compare what’s happening to our Americans, our fellow Americans, in Maui and Lahaina where if you’ve watched this, there’s been very little information, very little federal input, 2,000 homes or businesses burned to the ground. Many children incinerated, businesses on Front Street gone, people jumping in the ocean to try to survive. Some of the stories are coming out now that are harrowing. I’m sitting here with my partner, and let me tell you, Scott Taylor is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He is so dedicated, so loyal, and to watch him be so frightened and sad. I said, listen, we have to do something.”

So the fundraiser at the EmPOURium was born.

Dr. Boros said, “I said Scotty, what do you say we put on a fundraiser and do the very best we can from one island to another? I would say he loved it. Of course he would. Because these people need as much help as they can get. They’re displaced. We teamed up with Maui Strong Fund, which is a 501c3. These are people with their boots on the ground, actually get necessary items to the citizens who have been displaced and put in tents. Still over 1000 people apparently unaccounted for, a lot of children at home who are enveloped in flames and died. All of a sudden, this groundswell started to evolve and we put together a committee and from that point on, which was not that long ago, we started an Action Jackson type of thing.”

The event will begin at 6 p.m. and the general admission is $50. There will be t-shirts and a silent auction, as well as live music and prizes.

Dr. Boros said, “You’re going to get a pork dinner. We have a vegetarian option. This is becoming a county event. A lot of wonderful people have stepped up to be to be sponsors. What we’re asking is for people to really just reach into themselves and have compassion. Compassion is a very interesting word. So you got empathy. I’m going to teach for a second because I’m always learning but you have empathy for what they’ve gone through and we could have been wiped out. Key West could have been wiped out potentially by that hurricane, but we dodged the bullet and other people were hit. So we feel it. We all know it. It’s scary. But now you’ve got to flip over to compassion and compassion is you understand what happened to somebody else and you have to act on that. You have to act and create and do something to help people in need. That’s where I’d like everybody to dig deep into their compassion compartment. Because all the proceeds, everything that we do here is going to go directly to the Maui Strong Fund. I want to thank everybody like you and everybody else who has stepped up to the plate to jettison and jumpstart this incredible, fun event for us to help people that have been devastated in Lahaina.”

The Keys knows how to help people.

Dr. Boros said, “What I want to do is have people dig into their compassion compartment, to get involved. We’ve got lots of ads out there.”

Call Taylor at 305-395-0213 for more information.

Dr. Boros said, “All of this is tax deductible for everyone who donates. I just really hope that we step up to the plate because if this ever happened to Key West, we would want to see our nation step up and help us. This is one of the most incredible devastating things I’ve witnessed to America maybe next to 911, that something like this was so botched in its response. So as usual, people, American citizens that care need or will want to step up to the plate and help out the best we can. Collectively, we can make a statement and I hope Monroe County does step up to the plate to do that.”