MHS raised $10,688 for Maui through a benefit concert, Principal Greg Wohlman said. The money will be directly sent to the school district in Maui, Wohlman said.
The concert took place after school on the green on Sept. 15 and featured Crossing Rain, a Hawaiian-based pop group, and Manava, a Hawaiian cultural dance club on campus.
“We weren’t going to donate to a massive entity or a nationally sponsored group because we know they have administration costs and things tied into that,” Wohlman said.
Although the money has not yet been transferred to the Maui school district, MHS is currently in the process of distributing the money, said Wohlman.
“So our next steps are to contact a school directly or contact the local superintendent and talk through how that money would have the highest impact coming directly from our community to theirs,” Wohlman said.
The discussion surrounding potential ways to help Maui began soon after the Lahaina fires had been extinguished, Wohlman said.
“It was about three weeks or a month before the actual concert happened,” Wohlman said. “The superintendent asked if the students were interested in doing something to support the victims of the Maui fires. There had been some chatter amongst students already, and I wanted to see where students are with it.”
Not long afterward, Activities Director Deana Querubin and Contemporary Asian Theater Scene President Leianne Lamb began the planning process together, Wohlman said.
“Ms. Lamb, offered to bring Crossing Rain here for a free concert because they were performing in our area,” Wohlman said, “And we tied that in with an idea to have our local dance club that’s run by Ms. Canez to perform as the opening act.”
The majority of the concert was organized by a combination of students from different organizations and various staff members, Wohlman said.
Although she didn’t know of Crossing Rain beforehand, the concert itself was very interesting, and surpassed her expectations, freshman Snigdha Tallam said.
“They were really good. I might even listen to their music in the future,” Tallam said.
The Mahava performance was also very well-received among students, junior John Lancanlale said.
“I liked their vibes. It was very entertaining,” Lancanlale said. “I heard about the show two weeks before, and I didn’t know what to expect.”
Wohlman was also impressed by the concert, and believed the students made a huge difference for the Maui community, regardless if they donated, he said.
“I’m just really impressed about the care of our students and our community, about how well-received the event was and the excitement around it,” Wohlman said.
Wohlman believes that the success of the event can be attributed to the overall Milpitas culture, which the students firmly adhere to, he said.
“It just reaffirms what I know about Milpitas and what I know about the students here: that there’s a lot of care about students and people in our community. And that also means caring about people that aren’t here,” Wohlman said.