It's with great sadness that we watched Lahaina burn. The place that holds space in so many memories has been reduced to ashes. The smoke has not even cleared and In typical Maui fashion, the networks are being developed, the resources are being gathered and bit by bit the foundation for a stronger Maui is being created. Maui SweetnSpicy is here to support our neighbors in multiple ways. We are directly connected with one of the Low Income Apartments that was burned to the ground. 86 families moved out of the shelters into their beautiful new homes in October are once again faced with homelessness. The grief is palpable and the trauma is deep. I'm still searching for 26 families And yet, before there could be any official response, Maui begins to reach out. Cupboards are emptied and closets cleared. Fuel is gathered and medicines found. No access? No worries. The boats, kayaks and canoes pull up in Kihei. Volunteers appear to help carry and load. To Lahaina side they go. No phones, no wifi, no communication. Again - no worries. The docks may be gone, but the jet skis and volunteers show up. The needs of just my 86 families are overwhelming. There are donations and supplies flowing, but there are also bottlenecks in the official system. We will be commiting 100% of our proceeds to supporting the needs of our families that can not be met thru donations. Those things like birthday parties, halloween costumes and holiday decorations. Things that make a house a home. The bikes, scooters and surfboards. The fishing poles and snorkel gear. Special needs like glasses and corrective braces. Beds. Lots and lots of beds! If you do not want product, and simply want to donate, use the gift certificate for "Maui Fire". Now, here's our 'why'. Low income housing is not easy to get into. There are reams of paperwork. It's difficult to jump through all the hoops if you have access to things like printers and wifi. Imagine doing all those forms when you live on the beach or in a tent. One of our families that moved from the beach and shelter to an apartment last fall. They had nothing, but donations and a community sharing table soon had them in beds and eating at a table. Little by little they created a home. A medically fragile husband with PTSD, a high needs middle school student and two in elementary school, this mom was stretched. She became my #1 volunteer, got her food handlers card and runs the food bank distribution every month. She is the insigator behind Easter Egg hunts and community movies. With a heart full of aloha, she just gives and gives and gives some more. Image my despair when I answer the phone a few days ago and she cant stop crying. Her home is gone. They are in a shelter, her husbands ptsd is triggered and they both feel there is no hope. They want to quit life. They cant go on anymore. They have no hope. I got them through that night. They are in a quiet cottage for a few days until we can hopefully move them into a permanent home. Then they will get to start over - again. Oh - and even homeless, mom is running a new food bank for me on Tuesday! BE THE HOPE! This is only family #1. I may do this up to 85 more times. I will share the stories of each family. Please join us, as ohana, for the journey. Mahalo nui loa, Wendy Acosta Maui SweetnSpicy

With so many changes in 2020, the traditional holiday celebrations are also on the list of "new", "strange", "cancelled" or "changed". The rituals and gatherings we are so used to are not happening, or at least not in the same way. As a single parent, there was never enough budget for the kids wish lists. I'm sure that's familiar to many this year. One year we changed the rules. The kids could put three items on their list. Mom would get to choose one. Other than that, our holidays were comprised of the following: * Chinese Food for Christmas Eve DInner * A black friday trip to Target for movies to watch during the year * Annual Sugar Cookie decorating party when the kids were in grade school * Movies & Dinner. Turns out the #1 thing my kids wanted was time with mom. We capitalized on that by picking all the new release movies we wanted to see and scheduling date nites with simple dinners and a movie multiple times thru November and December. My kids probably cant remember any of those things on their Christmas lists, but we still laugh about the movies and dinners we shared. Wistfully thinking of Christmases' past, I'm happy to have already gone thru the 'downsizing' and releasing of the dozens of bins full of decorations and bling. My entire Christmas repetoire now fits in two bins plus the tree. Gone are the villages, the cute wreaths, the candles and garland. Here to stay are a few homemade santas, simple ornaments, stockings and the tree. The tree is worthy of mention. No, it's still not up. We will have to see how last years modifications impact using it this year. It was somewhere around 1990 that I pushed "add to cart" on costco.com for a pre lit tree. Unknownst to me, this was a fiber optic pre-lit tree. I also didn't realize I'd ordered a blue spruce with flocking, pinecones and those thousands of lit tips. It turned out to be so gorgeous, that some years it gets no ornaments and stands simply in it's own beauty. Friends will come in, sit down and admire it for hours. No conversation necessary, just appreciation. After 25 years, and a journey across the ocean, lots of those fibers have broken, and the tree has unlit spots. It was also almost 6' across, making it hard to place in my current home. Last year I decided to remove the bottom branches with the broken fibers, which will make it narrower. Will it work this year? Wait and see! The only other tradition I keep is roasting a turkey or two, and some years, baking goodies. This year will be a candy and cookie year for all the Instagram live broadcasts and to gift the neighbors. Nothing else pending. Time call or zoom with friends and family. No stress. No demands. Simply staying in gratitude for the opportunity to just be. Lots of holiday music, Christmas scents in the diffuser and connections with friends. Oh - and of course - a great cup of lavender Aloha Spiced Cacao. What are you grateful for in 2020? 2019 Lighting the Christmas Star at Lona Ridge, Maui.