Oprah Winfrey vows to make donation to Maui

Oprah Winfrey, who has a home in Maui, has been volunteering at a shelter for Hawaiians displaced by the raging wildfires on that island, and has promised to “make a major donation after all of the smoke and ashes have settled here and we figure out what the rebuilding is going to look like.”

In a nearly 4-minute video at the media mogul’s Oprah Daily website, excerpted on Instagram, a visibly moved Winfrey, 69, said she has been providing “basic things like towels and sheets and shampoo and other necessities,” and that she was awed by the evacuees’ resilience.

“Spending time at the shelter, I’ve met so many incredible people. One guy, Julius, I said, ‘Julius, tell me what you need,’ because his legs were covered in bandages where he had to run to escape the fire. And he said to me that he could feel his skin popping as he was running," she said. "He got out of his car because the tires were melting and he couldn’t move forward and just started to run. And when I said, ‘Tell me what you need,’ he said, ‘Ma’am, I need nothing. My life is now my greatest gift. I have my life.’ ”

She said she has seen “so many families who are sharing a cot, an air mattress, and have nothing else left to their names, but they are so grateful just to have each other. And there is such an incredible spirit going on in this entire community, people helping other people. … That ‘aloha spirit’ is real, y’all — and it has been tested this week to the ultimate max.”

Winfrey urged those who can to make donations, saying her organization has vetted the Hawaii Red Cross, to which texting the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 will make a $10 donation, and the Maui Humane Society.