KAPAA — When you get the worst phone call of your life, it has a tendency to bring you to your knees. That’s exactly what happened to Sandee Aqui when she found out she would be taking care of 4-year-old Mia and 8-month-old Milo after the untimely death of their parents, Tia Obrero and Mikey Blackstad on Feb. 14.
Alan Satta formed the gofundme account called “Mia and Milo” to raise money for the family and the two children on Feb. 16, two days after the tragedy. As of Tuesday afternoon, the account had raised a staggering $49,175 in eleven days.
The money will help, but it will never replace the loss of the two children’s parents. The children will be living with their grandmother, Aqui, who is one of the gofundme fundraisers consisting of Satta, Brent Obrero, Kayli Obrero, Robyn Leina’ala and Obrero-Zablan ‘Ohana.
“Aside from all that is happening, the main concern right now is the care for their two beautiful young children, Mia and Milo, that were left behind without parents,” the page reads. “Even though many of us are hurting from this loss, it is nothing compared to the effects it has on these children from losing their mommy and daddy.”
The bereavement process has just begun, but the fundraising efforts show how the community rallies when tragedy strikes. It’s a bright spot in a tragedy that has left many wondering what happened and how.
Most of the 605 donations were in the range of $100-$30 and the page had been shared over 5,000 times.
“Many have reached out to our ‘Ohana wondering how it is that they can help. We are asking if you can find it in your hearts to donate whatever you can to assist these children,” the fundraising group wrote on the page. “All of all donations received will be going directly to helping raise Mia and Milo. Anything and everything will be very much appreciated. It will take all of us coming together to care for and raise them how their parents would have wanted.”
On her Facebook page, Aqui shared the fundraising effort saying, “As many of you may know these are my two grandchildren. We are asking for your support at this time. Our family has been struck by tragedy and we were left with these two little beautiful babies to take care of.”
