CENTERVILLE, Ga. — The devastation from the wildfires in Hawaii has taken the lives of over a hundred people, and it continues to leave thousands of people displaced from their homes.
Former islanders all over the world, like Roz Turner in Centerville, are doing whatever they can to help those affected by the worst natural disaster in Hawaii's history, too.
Roz and her husband, Keith Turner, own the Apple Basket. It's a mom-and-pop shop selling gourmet chocolates in Centerville. They've been running the store since 2016.
Now, they are trying to make sure nobody is left behind, and they're asking the community to join their Ohana, or family.
After the wildfires took over the island of Maui in early August, the Turners' team collectively decided to take initiative. They are using their platform to raise money for those affected by the wildfire.
"It wasn't even thinking, it was just automatic," the couple said. "Just quick action."
Roz is native to Hawaii, where she said all of the islanders consider one another as if they are their own kin.
"That's just how it is on the islands. It's not about whether or not you know somebody," she said, wiping away tears. "Anybody and everybody is welcome into your halay, into your heart."
The Apple Basket team believes it takes a village to raise a child, which is the kind of mana, or energy, Roz received and reciprocated with her community growing up.
That's why they are collaborating with the Kahului Baptist Church on the island of Maui who, the Turners say, are housing displaced Hawaiians. They say they are doing it with very little resources behind them.
"We just let them know what we're doing for them and to expect a shipment the first week of September," Roz said.
For the people working at the Apple Basket, like cashier Dawn Mulligan Ray, they see the way their bosses are trying to make a difference an ocean away.
"It's all out of the goodness of their hearts," Mulligan-Ray said.
But Mulligan-Ray has close ties to the action on the ground because she grew up in Maui. Her hometown of Lahaina and Kula have seen the worst of the wildfires.
"I'm very blessed," she said. "I only know two people who lost their homes and everybody else marked safe. But many families cannot say that."
She met her best friends through a group of Hawaiians living in Georgia who call themselves "Gawaiians." Mulligan-Ray said everyone part of the group was either born in, lived in, was raised in and/or stationed in Hawaii.
Her brother is in the Civil Air Patrol in Maui, she said. That's how she's been getting updates about the disasters.
"They need local people to get to the boats," she said. "There's only one road into Lahania and one road out."
Learning from Mulligan-Ray's brother some schools just started, or re-started, about two weeks after the fires started on Wednesday, Aug. 16, the Apple Basket team decided they weren't just going to raise money.
On top of monetary donations, they will also accept donations of toys and school supplies for the keiki, or children, of Hawaii.
"Sometimes, the kids get kind of forgotten," Roz said. "We just want to make sure we do whatever we can to lift their spirits up during this time, because this is their trauma, too."
Her husband Keith, an earthquake survivor, says he wants to provide as much help to those displaced by the wildfire as he possibly can.
"Personally, if I could go there and I had a shovel, I could get to rebuilding," he said. "I would. But, we're so far away, we can't do that. This is our way of helping them rebuild what's incinerated."
If you're interested in donating to the Apple Basket's fundraiser, you can visit them at 100 N Houston Lake Blvd from Wednesday through Saturday.
People flock from all over town to grab the Apple Basket specialty: candied apples.
If you get there in time between Aug. 16 and 31, you can try their "island-themed" candied apples. Flavors change daily and they only make 60 special apples a day-- so get them while they last!