It’s a mission of joy, and aunties 🙂

Ice Cream Aunties’ Missions of Aloha, which operates under the umbrella of Maui Rapid Response, makes weekly rounds through West Maui neighbourhoods to share free treats, supplies and toys donated by the community.

It’s an unconventional form of healing from trauma, but it works.

Several times a week, Auntie Tree, Aunty Kamiki, and Aunty Jenny head out with the cold treats.

But they bring more than ice cream. They listen for what’s needed at each house, hotel, shelter and each community hub.

“There are high fives, there are hugs, you can get a handshake, a fist bump,” says Trinette Furtado (Auntie Tree). “Kids would actually come up, and they’d be like, ‘Auntie with my ice cream, can I get a hug?’ Or adults would say that, ‘Hey, I really could use a hug today.’ And I’m like, ‘You know what? Me too.’”

Born and raised on Maui, she sprang into action immediately after the terrible fires. “I was taking water, trash bags, rakes, brooms, rice cookers, batteries, generators, things like that. But having to leave them, like on the curb, because nobody was coming out. Everybody was still so traumatized.”

So how to persuade them out of the house? Her daughter asked what would make her come of the house. And right away, she thought about how ice cream vendors used to come through the community, with their music letting everyone know they were there.

“And literally, that’s how the Ice Cream Aunties missions were born. I was like, ‘I’m gonna play a tune and they’re gonna come out.’ And I knew that this would happen because adults remember the tune, right? And kids would be like, ‘What’s that?’ And they did.”

At beach parks to deliver treats and care packages to houseless communities, Furtado is greeted with hugs.

“It is not only palpable, it is infectious. It is contagious,” Furtado said. “And that’s why I do it. That’s why I keep doing it. Because even with all of this stuff that normally will take people down, we have these opportunities where we can lift each other up. And eat some ice cream too!”

Images are all from the Ice Cream Aunties Mission of Aloha Facebook page.