An epic concert at the MACC on Sept. 7 closed the three-day Maui Music & Food Experience organized by the Hua Momona Foundation to benefit folks impacted by the Lahaina fire. “The concert and especially the last set with all the musicians on stage was jaw-dropping and historic, and way beyond my expectations,” says Hua Momona Foundation founder Gary Grube. “We called it an experience for a reason.”

Musicians performing at the concert, which paid tribute to Jimi Hendrix’s time on Maui in 1970, included Hendrix’s bassist Billy Cox, Ernie Isley, Mick Fleetwood, Darryl Jones of the Rolling Stones, former Bob Dylan band guitarist Charlie Sexton, and music director Nicholas Tremulis.

“The long view is definitely what I’m looking for,” says Grube, who wants to make it an annual event. “The daughter of Billy Cox said right at the end of the night, ‘Gary I can’t believe this is your first year doing this, and it’s so sorted out.’ That was a high compliment.”

A Rolling Stone magazine journalist attended the benefit and Grube says, “I think he’s going to do a feature article which would be great because then it’s something that’s memorialized.”

A tech industry executive and inventor with over 520 patents, Grube and his wife Kathy, bought land in Kapalua where they founded Hua Momona Farms in 2017, an organically managed endeavor initially specializing in growing microgreens.

When the Covid pandemic hit and restaurants shut down, they created the Hua Momona Foundation to serve fresh produce to people on Maui in need. “I learned the true meaning of aloha,” says Grube. “I reflected on my mother and her experience growing up with food insecurity, and I’ve been lucky to give to the community and help people. We saw a need for safely delivered food because people couldn’t go to farmers markets and we met people that were taking care of people with food insecurity. The two homeless shelters and other organizations that were helping the unsheltered were naturals for us to say let’s help you out. We started giving away food. Every week, we started delivering farm boxes to each of the homeless shelters so they could cook in their kitchens with it.”

Before the August 2023 fires, the Foundation had delivered over 24 tons of free food to those in need on Maui. Hardship became even more pronounced following the fires.

“We have this amazing kitchen trailer and put it into service,” he explains. “We were probably making 1500 meals a week right after the fire. We had some volunteers, but I also hired people. The team needed help, and this is like going into war. You’ve got to make quick decisions, and are you in or you’re out. I remember that moment when I said either we’re going to go big and try, which could blow up if we can’t figure out how to fund it all, or we’ll close it all down. It was probably the biggest challenge of my life to say let’s go big.

“We had a lot of friends who said ‘I just lost my place, but I heard you guys are making meals. I’m a chef I want to come up and help.’ Or, ‘I’m a server, I can help.’ We took their volunteerism to heart, but we also knew that we needed stability on the team. So we hired people. We had chefs and servers who were kind of lost. ‘I don’t have a job, my place burned down, what do I do?’ So we gave them two things, an income and a mission to feel good about it. We hired people, and it was so gratifying to see their reaction getting a job with an income and getting to work feeding the community. It really was super powerful and most of those people are still with us helping.”

Speaking at the “Night at the Farm” event at Hua Momona Farms on Sept. 5, the Farms Executive Chef Zach Laidlaw reported, “we’ve delivered about 56,000 meals to the people of Lahaina.”

More than one year after the August fire, there is still a pressing need to feed people on Maui. Grube is keenly aware of the impact of food insecurity. “We’re still delivering about 1,000 meals a week,” he says. “We deliver to condos and food hubs. People are having a hard time making ends meet. As the response phase fades out, because of fewer employment opportunities, there’s food insecurity of somewhere around 35 percent now, which is a really high number. People on Maui with food insecurity means that two or three days out of the week they don’t know where their food’s going to come from. Even 15 percent is frightening.”

Providing free hot meals, “it’s a real sturdy lunch like a dinner entrée at lunchtime, about a thousand still per week,” Grube plans to keep raising funds for the Hua Momona Foundation. A fundraiser in Chicago is coming up on Nov. 9, and another Experience event is planned for next summer on Maui.

“At the end of the night (at the MACC concert) Mick Fleetwood said how much he enjoyed it and thought that it was really good for the community and if we want to do this again he wants to help,” says Grube. “And Charlie Sexton has worked on hurricane relief and other fires, and he’s genuinely interested in helping us get the word out about what the mission is and to get post-event donations.”

For more information, and to make a donation, contact: www.huamomonafarms.com/pages/hua-momona-foundation.