9-year-old collects over 1,000 books for Lahaina keiki

HONOLULU (KHON2) — 9-year-old Madison Ellner from Orange County, California collected and donated over 1,000 books for Lahaina keiki.

The books were donated to Friends of the Maui Library Kihei branch Wednesday, where she hopes they will be distributed to families in need.

Maui is a place Madison holds close to her heart, at only nine-years-old she has visited the island eight times. Her 2023 trip took a turn when flames tore through the town of Lahaina on August 8th.

“I was in Maui during the fires in Lahaina, and we met this family who was from Lahaina, who only escaped with a bag or two. And we went to Target and bought a bunch of things for them and just surprised them, but I still wanted to do more,” Madison said.

Being only in third-grade at the time, she knew there had to be something more a kid could do to help. Once she returned to California, her grandma showed her the Lahaina library project, which sparked her idea to give back.

After passing out flyers for neighbors and asking her school’s help to reach out to students, she was able to collect 620 pounds of books, with a total of 1,604.

“We put boxes outside of every single third grade class, there’s three of them. And they were filled to the brim with books! And that’s kinda how it started,” Madison said. “I thought like no one would donate, but I was wrong, and I think it was amazing. It was really magical how people gave what they had for other people who had nothing.”

Now, with all the books collected, the next challenge was to get them across an ocean, and with some help from her family, Madison was able to fit all the books inside nine brightly colored duffle bags.

“We went to LAX [Monday] for our flight, and we brought them all to the airport and checked them all in,” Madison’s mother Kelly Ellner said. “We got to check them in at the curb, thankfully, with a family of seven basically traveling over here.”

When it was finally time to donate the books, Madison was met with a surprise of her own; a certificate and ceremony in her honor.

“They surprised us with this little party and there was a big cake, for the book donations and how happy they were,” Madison said.

On top of the cake sat an angel cake topper, symbolizing what her efforts meant to the community, and a memento she can take back to the mainland.

Madison will be entering the fourth grade at the beginning of the upcoming school year and hopes people will read her story and make their own contributions. She plans to continue her work on the island through her future visits.

Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news

“It makes me proud of myself, and I found out that when I give, it makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy and I really like that feeling,” Madison said.