by Jackson Knox, EO 2160
This past August tragedy struck the Hawaiian islands as wildfires claimed the lives of at least 97 Americans and totaled around $6 billion in damage. Maui, an island known for its natural beauty, host to much tourism and home to communities with families spanning generations back as Maui natives, experienced the bulk of the damage.
John Marc Bautista, a Bay Area native, former Vice President, and current Epsilon Omicron senior, has 15 family members who were directly in the line of destruction of the fires.
As John Marc told Bay Area news outlet The Almanac, “That was also my favorite place to be in the world. I would go visit them every summer. So it’s pretty devastating to hear everything that happened. Thankfully, they’re completely safe. But they have lost everything.”
In the modern spirit, John Marc turned to social media.
However, rather than a generic Instagram story post or maybe a thoughtless tweet on X, John Marc put boots on the ground, literally.
John Marc began, alongside his brother, Boston Bautista, a 100 mile walk starting in his hometown of Menlo Park, up the coast to San Francisco. Along the way, the Bautista duo documented their trek on the Instagram page @100miles4maui, where they promoted a GoFundMe, dedicated as a financial relief fund for his family members whose homes and jobs had been stolen by the fires as well as a means of spreading awareness of the tragedy.
The journey spanned a total of 3 days, and on his journey, John Marc’s courageousness caught the attention of major news outlets including NBC, which allowed John Marc an even larger platform to spread his message of awareness.
Originally starting off with a goal of raising $10,000, as of today, John Marc’s “Emergency Relief for Marchello ʻOhana of Lahaina” GoFundMe has raised almost $90,000.
We as a Chapter stand in solidarity with our brother John Marc and his affected family members who, along with the greater Maui community, are fighting to recover from this horrible tragedy, and applaud John Marc for his initiative and charitable spirit in this remarkable endeavor.
Read more about John Marc’s Walk for Maui below!
https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2023/09/08/an-extra-mile-for-maui/
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/100-mile-walk-maui-wildfires/3295682/?amp=1
Sigma Nu USC 
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