Bellator fighter Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, who has been raising money for disaster relief in her native state of Hawaii, says she hasn’t been able to give the money to the victims because it hasn’t become available from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
The recent disaster took place when a downed power line caused a fire that ignited almost 80% of the town of Lahaina.
From there, things only got worse. Many residents didn’t receive notice in time to evacuate, and the tragedy that followed grew to horrific levels. At least 115 people have reportedly lost their lives.
33-year-old Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, a five-time Bellator world champion, has been raising money to help victims on the island. Thus far, she’s built up approximately $2.5 million in funds to help those in need but says that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has not yet freed up the funds for her to disperse them.
“I don’t have the 2.5 million,” the fighter said recently in an Instagram post. “Meta has not released it yet. However, through independent fundraising, I have been able to raise money and send $215,000 directly to family’s personal fundraisers.”
Needless to say, Mark Zuckerberg and his company have not responded to the IG post. However, an amount like that could admittedly have a delay in terms of a transfer. Even still, that’s no real consolation for those in need right now.
Macfarlane was born in Honolulu and raised in Oahu. The 5’4″, 125-pound fighter was the inaugural Bellator Women’s Flyweight World Champion. She last fought in April, when she defeated Kana Watanabe by split decision at Bellator 295.
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