Local brewery 'crafts' up donations to Maui wildfire relief

 

ELKHART, Ind. - For the past 3 weeks, the country has been coming together to send over supplies and donations to help towards relief efforts in Maui after devastating wildfires tore through the community. 

One local business in Michiana has crafted a way for you to support with a sip. 

“We have this sense of Aloha which is really a love that people have with each other,” says Matt Bachman, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Maui. 

The disaster in Maui is bringing not only the Hawaiians together in this time of recovery.  

“To see that happen, it was just completely devastating,” Aaron West says, Owner and CEO of Westwind Brewery Co. in Elkhart. 

Even from thousands of miles away, West is showing his support for Maui through his craft, after having visited the island on vacation just a few months ago.  

“It was designed to show the love for a place that we really liked in lieu of all the devastation, those people have lost their homes, they don’t have food,” says West. 

So, he’s pouring up the ‘Love for Maui’ IPA.  

“I just wanted to make a beer that was kind of palatable,” West explains. “It’s not overly hoppy, but it’s got a nice citrus note, notes of pineapple in it and stuff.” 

Every glass or can sold of the ‘Love for Maui’ brew sends one dollar to a charity supporting the families of restaurant workers who have lost their homes to the wildfires.  

The generosity shown to the Maui community through donations like this one is something the Director of Habitat for Humanity in Maui says is immensely appreciated.  

“That’s from great people, like people in Elkhart at a brewery, thinking of us out here,” Bachman says. “We got a thousand dollars from a flatbread company in Colorado that I’ve never heard of.”  

Every dollar counts, and at Westwind Brewery, so does every pour.  

“This beer’s kind of near and dear to me, the fact that I wanted it to be supplemental and have impact,” admits West. 

The ‘Love for Maui’ IPA will be on tap at Westwind Brewery throughout the Labor Day weekend, but if you can’t make it, you can donate directly to the cause at the Legacy for Aloha Foundation or Habitat for Humanity Maui. 

Visit these links for more information on Legacy of Aloha and Habitat for Humanity.