Dillon Gabriell plans to help victims of Maui fires

Sports editor

Redshirt junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel during the Walk of Champions on Nov. 5.

Dillon Gabriel rushed to text his mother Dori.

In the midst of a grueling August fall training camp, he had just heard the ravaging fires burning his homeland of Hawaii had reached Lahaina where two of Dori’s cousins live. Thankfully, everyone in their family made it out safely, but the same wasn't true for their homes and business which burned to the ground.

“Mom, I want to do something,” Dillon said.

Dori encouraged her son, who always jumps to help others, to step back and assess how best to help. The devastation, which isn’t 100% contained in some places and that has led to at least 115 deaths, hit too close to home for OU’s starting quarterback.

The Mililani native’s love for Hawaii is no secret. Gabriel, who grew up a little over 100 miles from Lahaina, often wears leis during the Sooners’ Walk of Champions before games.

“(It’s) just super sad,” Gabriel said after practice on Monday. “ … It's tough knowing people like that are going through it. But I also know Hawaii is a special place and very strong, and I'm proud to be from there, and I’m just praying for them. Hope everyone does the same and shows as much love as they can.”

Redshirt junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel during walk of champion on NOV 5.

Lahainaluna High School’s football team was forced to push back its season to Sept. 30 due to the fires. Dillon and his mother spoke about doing something to help those kids on the team, whether it be through donations or sending a simple well wishes video, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Dori is departing the island for Norman to make it to Gabriel and OU’s season opener against Arkansas State on Saturday, and the two plan to discuss further plans to help out the Maui community still struggling.

“When you look at the Hawaiian islands, we’re a small chain of islands but we’re all connected,” Dori told the OU Daily. “Because it’s so small, the population is a little over a million people. We have very few degrees of separation … (My cousins) had minimal time, they’re just so grateful that they have their lives and could get out of there in time.

“The hardest part is just hearing the stories even now on the news. Obviously, it’s on everyday here, and you hear friends of friends or friends of family or family friends that have been affected. One of the gals that works for me in my line of business, her family’s home was affected by the fire upcountry.”

Dillon has a history of philanthropy in his hometown. Starting in 2021, Gabriel gifted Mililani High School’s basketball team new shoes and socks. Then in 2022, Gabriel partnered with BSN Sports to develop a Mililani and Nike partnership to design his high school’s jerseys.

He also donated an $8,000 check during an assembly last summer. Not only does Gabriel help fit men’s sports at Mililani, but, in the spirit of Title IX and equality, he returned home this summer and announced he’d be outfitting the school's women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams as well.

I am so excited to be apart of outfitting the women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and men’s basketball uniforms. A huge thank you to Mr Murphy and Aunty Joy for helping make this happen. I can’t wait to see everyone playing in their new uniforms! pic.twitter.com/QR7AElsGZ5

“I’d definitely say there’s excitement around sports for us teenagers,” Dillon’s younger brother Roman, a junior at Mililani, told the OU Daily of the impact his brother’s donations have had. “We always get excited about the little things like just having the jerseys and even just people coming to watch us.

“Everybody points it out and I'm excited for all the other programs that are getting jerseys too so it'll be fun, but I really think it does help the community, people coming to the games, everything, just the whole environment around the program. It really changed a lot for the sports that are getting impacted.”

While Dillon’s contributions to Mililani have gone a long way for the school, the students and the community, he’s eager to lend a helping hand toward the recovery efforts underway on Maui.

“Being island people,” Dori said. “We’re very simple people, and the devastation to that is huge. Everything that comes in here has to be shipped here so the cost of rebuilding and the magnitude of miles of civilization that’s just gone. It’s crazy.

" ... When Dillon says he's going to do something, he does it."

As Gabriel runs out onto Owen Field Saturday in front of his family, his home of Hawaii and the thousands of people who are struggling to rebuild or who lost a loved one will be on his mind.

He might be repping crimson and cream jerseys on Saturdays during the fall but he’s always wearing his Hawaiian heart on his sleeve.

“I love Hawaii and the tight knit family,” Gabriel said. “And just the people there and what they're about, so I would love to (help out) and (it's) something I'm definitely going to do in the future.”

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