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Personal tragedies led Kaupo woman to volunteer

Smith honored by Red Cross

By Colleen Uechi 5 min read

When a faulty propane tank burned her Kaupo home to the ground in 2005, Jade Alohalani Smith was in shock. She and her family had a mountain of to-do's: finding temporary shelter, applying for new birth certificates, rebuilding all their belongings from scratch.

"The Red Cross gave us tents that we could live in," Smith said. "They gave me names and contacts. We utilized every resource we could qualify for."

It was that disaster, and the 2006 earthquake that cut off Kipahulu from Kaupo that convinced Smith to become an American Red Cross volunteer.

"I've been there," Smith said. "I've seen devastation. I've seen people devastated. The best I could do is help that person to push through and go forward in their life."

Smith's eagerness to give back is why she loves being a volunteer, and why the Red Cross recently honored her with the Spirit of the Pacific Regional Award for the month of August.

The award is a monthly honor given to one or two volunteers within the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region, which includes Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. The awardee is one "who focuses on the mission of the Red Cross, acts with a sense of purpose, communicates in an effective way that is objective and demonstrates integrity," according to a Red Cross news release.

Before she joined the Red Cross, Smith was learning the basics of first response as a Haleakala National Park employee. Everyone, including office workers, got some emergency training.

"They train everybody in the office because most times, all those who work in the field are in the field," Smith said.

An administrative associate in the Natural Resources Division, Smith came to the aid of bikers with broken femurs, hikers lost in the crater and riders who'd fallen off their horses.

"That's where my love started to help people," Smith said. "I've seen them recover and give that gratitude, and that's all I want."

On Oct. 21, 2005, Smith was driving through Keokea on her way to Haleakala when she got a call that her house was on fire.

"I turned around and went back," Smith said. "And from a distance, all I saw was black smoke where our home was. I totally cried."

Apparently, a defective propane tank had exploded and completely destroyed the structure. The two-bedroom home with a spacious parlor had been housing nine people: Smith; her husband, Alika; their three children; Smith's in-laws; and two nieces. There was nothing the family could salvage. Smith didn't know where to start. Then the Red Cross arrived. Volunteers gave each family member a $150 gift certificate to Walmart. They provided tents and gave them advice about who to call.

"It's hard to sit down and think what I'm going to need," Smith said. "To have someone provide you a list that I could take and say, 'Oh, OK, now I know what to do.' . . . They did a lot to bring my sanity back to me."

With the help of family and friends, Smith and her family members cleaned up the rubbish and started rebuilding. They laid a foundation and put up walls so Smith and her family could move out of tents and set up cots in their new home.

However, the house was still being rebuilt when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off Hawaii island on Oct. 15, 2006, and reverberated through East Maui. The tremor and following rains damaged the Paihi Bridge between Hana and Kipahulu, caused a landslide between Kaupo and Kipahulu and cut off telephone service to 40 Kaupo families. It shut down the portion of Piilani Highway between Kaupo and Kipahulu for two years.

Again, the Red Cross came through in desperate times, flying in fuel and water and offering assistance to the residents of Kaupo, Smith said. She felt the same relief she had after her house burned down.

"That's what really, truly activated" her desire to become a Red Cross volunteer, she said. Since joining in 2010, Smith's role in the organization has continued to grow.

"I have a whole room set up for triage," Smith said. "I have cooking necessities to feed the masses. . . . As soon as a disaster happens, people are just like, 'Go see Aloha. She's up the road. She'll take care of you.'"

Whether it's feeding ranch workers on their way to help fight the nearly 6,000-acre Kahikinui brush fire or housing people whose cars have broken down, Smith just likes to be there for people. She now heads up sheltering efforts for disasters in Maui County and is working to house a Red Cross container on her property to store cots, blankets and other emergency supplies.

Jim Jackson, mass care lead for the American Red Cross Maui chapter, has known Smith since she joined the organization.

"She is always willing to help, even though she lives way out . . . in the middle of nowhere," Jackson said Sunday. "She's evolved into even more responsibilities and does it willingly. She's never in a bad mood."

Given the amount of people that go out to East Maui every day, "having someone like Aloha out there who's trained and has the leadership abilities and the skills is an incredible plus," Jackson said.

Smith also plans to join Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas.

"We know this is going to last for months," Smith said. "We know these people are going to need constant help, and some volunteers are going to burn out."

Having lost everything once herself, Smith said that the disaster hits home for her and hopes she can help others look to the future.

"It's hard, but we've got to continue to move forward," she said.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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