CLAREMONT — Recovery efforts continue in Lahaina, the town on the Hawaiian island of Maui that has been devastated by wildfires that began two weeks ago. Across the Pacific Ocean and then some, Upper Valley residents are trying to pull their weight.

On Tuesday, the kids at Couture’s Corner Childcare in Claremont hosted a lemonade stand to raise money for the Hawaiian Red Cross. The Barn Cafe on the city’s Main Street has been donating 20% of the proceeds from their Hawaiian sandwich to the same organization.

“There was something we could do to help,” said Raphael Rivera, who works at the cafe. “So why not do it?”

But far-flung thoughts hit closer to home for Hartland resident Leah Gartner.

Gartner’s mother and stepmother are the co-owners of Cheeseburger in Paradise, a restaurant in Lahaina that they co-founded in 1989. Gartner, 51, lived in Maui herself as a teenager and young adult. Her family and the employees of the restaurant were safe through the fires, but the restaurant burned down, and so did a brewery they owned.

On Tuesday, she returned to the Upper Valley after having spent a few days in Maui aiding in recovery work there. As of Thursday, the death toll from the fires was at 115, and the fires on the island had burned over 2,000 acres, according to a news release from the County of Maui.

“Any staff that were still on the island, we had a meal together and distributed paychecks,” Gartner said of her most recent time in Maui. “We listened and cried together. Many people will leave the island now, and staff were saying goodbye to each other.”

She emphasized that another story is unfolding alongside the more immediate damage of the wildfires, she said. The impact of the disaster looms over the rest of Maui, of which Lahaina is only a portion.

There, the island’s economic development board states that money from tourism brings in 80% of its annual revenue.

“When tourism comes to a halt, it impacts the economy there big time,” Gartner said, drawing on memories from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly a quarter of the state’s population was unemployed, as reported by Hawaii Public Radio.

“There’s this balancing act between the respect and the mourning and the grieving, for all the lives lost in Lahaina and homes and businesses and schools — and lives first and foremost — and then there are the 166,000 people that live on Maui,” she said. “This could be devastating for the entire island.”

And while loans tailored to bring small businesses through the pandemic helped ease financial strain at that time, Gartner emphasized that no such relief exists now for business whose revenue streams are impacted by the wildfires.

For someone who has an upcoming vacation planned to Maui, Gartner’s resounding message remains: Keep your reservation.

“Plan to give to local businesses and over-tip,” she said. “Stay away from the Lahaina side of the island, but there’s a lot more to explore there than that. And do it all with reverence and respect.”

Gartner started a GoFundMe, all proceeds of which will go to employees of her family’s businesses who lost their homes and incomes due to the fires, she said. The fundraiser can be found at the following link: tinyurl.com/yeys3bms.

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.