ATLANTA — As Hawai'i residents deal with the aftermath of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century - one Atlanta organization is using its app to help.
The Atlanta-based app known as 'Purposity' is helping displaced families on Maui by uploading their needs in real-time for app users to see and purchase them.
The app's name comes from a mix of the words purpose and generosity. It connects communities in over 27 U.S. states. In Georgia, the app works with 50 school districts. In metro Atlanta, the app works with every school district.
The way it works is simple. People in different communities upload their needs, which are vetted and uploaded onto the app for others to see. Users can then click 'meet need' to purchase the item on the app, which will then be delivered directly who requested it.
To provide direct relief to Lahaina residents, a census-designated area in Maui, 'Purposity' is using a long-established partnership with Hawaii Public Schools to make it possible.
Blake Canterbury, founder and CEO of Purposity, explained the partnership between the app and the school district began over four years ago. So when wildfires began tearing through the island, the school district, which includes 295 schools and 168,634 students, turned to the app for help.
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"As these wildfires came up, we already had a partnership to vet 1-to-1 needs on the ground there," Canterbury said. "So naturally, they turned to us to submit needs."
What makes providing direct aid even more possible with Purposity? The organization that runs the app already has the infrastructure built for shipping to Maui, Canterbury said.
Additionally, impacted residents in Maui are using schools within the district as temporary shelters due to the wildfires.
"These families are staying at schools," Canterbury said. "Every story you see in the app is written firsthand by somebody working with that specific family. So everything's vetted 100%. You can trust that your money is going directly to that pair of shoes you're signing up to buy or the clothes or the baby formula."
Requests for supplies like towels, hygiene products, first aid kits and clothing have flooded into the app within the last few days.
"In the last 24 hours alone, we've had more than 300 requests come in for families," Canterbury said. "So we're taking those live. We'll have more, I'm sure, by the time this interview airs, and we'll continue to process them and get them live as fast as we can."
According to AP News, the cause of the wildfires is under investigation. As of Aug. 16, at least 110 people have died from the fires. That number could go up.
President Joe Biden will visit the island on Monday to survey the island.
"In metro Atlanta, we have 6 million people. If half of us took an act of generosity around these Maui fires, we'd put a big dent in helping some of the folks affected," Canterbury said.
To help Maui residents using Purposity, click here.