When Cole Millington (BA ’19) heard that his friend Avery Donovan was headed to Hawaii to live with his uncle and work a summer job, he asked if he could tag along. But what began as an adventure working as a dive guide and surf coach took root as a deep appreciation for Maui and for nature and offered an opportunity to out into motion an entrepreneurial spirit fostered at the University of Denver. Millington settled in Lahaina, a town of more than 12,000 on Maui’s west coast. Even after friends returned to the mainland and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when unemployment peaked at 80% on the island he stayed. He had found a sense of community there that he didn’t want to leave, which has persisted through the island’s recent tragedy and the resulting hardship. On Aug. 8, Lahaina was the center of a series of chaotic wildfires that left 115 people dead and another 388 missing. More than 2,200 homes and businesses burned to the ground, including the house where Millington live