“Ice cream! Come get your ice cream! Huuiiii!”
That’s the call of the Ice Cream Aunties in Lahaina.
Trinette Furtado sits on the back of her truck, announcing free treats on a megaphone as she does her weekly rounds through West Maui neighborhoods.
While Furtado dishes out aloha and ice cream for those of all ages, keiki can spin a wheel to win toys, snacks, sprinkles for their ice cream and other prizes.
Over the past year, Ice Cream Aunties has turned into something deeper than just a cold treat.
“There are high fives, there are hugs, you can get a handshake, a fist bump," Furtado said. "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.’”
It's an unconventional form of healing.
“It's not the kind of therapy way that you would meet up with somebody, but it's successful," Furtado said.
Furtado was born and raised on Maui. Her ‘ohana is from Lahaina and immediately after the fires, she sprang into action.
“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,” she explained.
Furtado tried to come up with a solution.
"So my daughter's like, 'Well, what do people like, mom?' And I go, 'What do you mean, what do people like?' And she's like, 'Well, what would make you come out of the house?'”
That’s when it came to her.
“Ice cream! 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.”
She’s been making the trip almost weekly ever since.
Volunteers jump on to help. They stop at beach parks to deliver treats and care packages to houseless communities, where Furtado is greeted with hugs. They go through the neighborhoods of Leiali’i, just outside Lahaina, where many fire survivors took refuge.
Why does Furtado do it?
“People. People are the impetus for why I do this," she said simply. "And I come up with crazy ideas all the time. Seriously, I do. And this was the most brilliant, crazy idea I could come up with to connect with people.”
Ice Cream Aunties' Missions of Aloha operates under the umbrella of Maui Rapid Response, with community donations of ice cream, supplies and toys for the treasure box.
It’s a mission that generates joy.
“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!”
