HILO, Hawaii – When word of the devastating wildfires in Maui reached the more than 40 moms of The Mom Walk Collective, they sprang into action. It didn’t matter that they were one island away from the tragedy.

“Our group chat lit up,” said member Nita Gardipee. “We filled three shipping containers with kid and baby supplies and sent them over on the 10th, two days later.”

These “stroller mommies” are part of a national organization and have a sister group in Maui. Two of those women lost their homes in the Lahaina fire and the Hilo moms have been working ever since to help.

Tuesday afternoon they took over a Hilo yoga studio next to a mochi shop to hold a bake sale. Coconut pudding, sourdough scones and brown butter Rice Krispie treats carefully labeled “Made in a home kitchen not regularly inspected by the Dept. of Health” sold briskly and within two hours they had raised $555.

The 30 miles between the islands of Maui and Hawaii don’t matter at all, said Gardipee.

“Everyone looks out for one another here,” she said. “Everyone knows or is related to someone who was affected.”

Two weeks after the fire, all across the Big Island of Hawaii residents said the same thing. “Hawaii is one family across a bunch of islands,” said Mary Grace Orr of Volcano, Hawaii.

She and her husband both dance with a hula hālau, a hula dance school, and have been taking part in and attending benefits to help the people in Maui in the two weeks since fire tore through the town of Lahaina and killed at least 115 people.

“All of us know plenty of people who know people who were affected or who lost everything – or who haven’t been found,” she said.

On Monday, Hawaii officials said that some 850 people are still missing after the deadly wildfires.

Apart from the West Maui area, state officials welcome tourists, who are vital to the local economy, to the islands. Many Hawaii residents are asking for a little aloha spirit in return as they deal with the effects of the tragedy, which ripples far from Lahaina.