Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez will donate $100 million to help rebuild Maui after the island was destroyed by flames this week, Sanchez said on Instagram.
"What is occurring in Maui has devastated Jeff and my hearts. "We are thinking of all the families who have lost so much and a community that has been devastated," Sanchez wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
"The immediate needs are important, but so is the longer-term rebuilding that will have to take place — even after much of the attention has faded."
Jeff and I are establishing the Maui Fund and have pledged $100 million to assist Maui in regaining its footing now and in the coming years as new needs emerge."
This week, wildfires scorched western Maui, completely destroying the famed tourist town of Lahaina and killing at least 80 people.
The fire spread swiftly due to unusually strong winds, trapping many in the town and prompting some to flee into the sea to escape the flames.
Other celebrities have been drawn to the disaster as well. Oprah Winfrey, a Maui resident, purchased supplies for evacuees at shelters across the island earlier this week.
"The only thing that comes to mind is a war zone or a bomb going off." It was cars in the street, doors open, melted to the ground.