Baseball player, Hawaiians come to the assistance of Kilauea evacuees

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

Lava flowed across a Hawaiian street and set a car aflame.

ST. LOUIS CARDINAL's 2nd baseman Kolten Wong is pitching in to help the victims of the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea lava flows.

Wong, a native of Hilo, Hawaii, near the now evacuated community said in a video that he felt a strong kuleana, or responsibility, to help his people by launching a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $200,000.

“The one thing I know, man is that I love my people and I’m going to do everything for them,” said Wong in the video. “So I ask you guys humbly, I’m creating this GoFundMe page, it’s going to be in my bio, to go check it out … It’s going to be used in the right way…I’m going to make sure every single dollar you do give is going toward these people to help them rebuild what they have, to get their lives started up again and to help the Big Island rebuild.”

The Kilauea volcano has been spewing lava into communities on Hawaii's Big Island since Thursday, forcing more than 1,700 people, including many retirees, to flee from their mountainside homes.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Kolten Wong plays second base for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Accompanying Kilauea's recent activity, have been a series of earthquakes registering as high as the 6.9 that was recorded on Friday evening and have continued into Monday morning. Since these events, there have been continuous warnings pertaining to the ongoing dangers of lava, subsequent earthquakes as well as the sulfur dioxide gas that has been released into the air. 

"With the ongoing and present dangers, I have been in contact with numerous groups on the Big Island and will be donating all proceeds from this campaign to various local non-profits that are on the ground level impacting those affected," said Wong. 

"It’s at a time like this that we must kōkua (help) and come together as an extended ‘ohana (family) to help those in need." 

Out of the fire, a new community organization was born called Puuhonua o Puna, made up an army of volunteers providing assistance and feeding the evacuees.

On Monday (May 8) morning, trucks full of donations where bringing items to the center in Pahoa. People were bringing beds and cots, clothing, food, water, according to Hawaii News Now.

"Puna strong. Puna always comes together and all the islands. This is the Aloha State. There is so much aloha here," volunteer Tiana Dunn told Hawaii News Now.

For more information or to help, click here.

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