After the Lewiston mass shooting in 2023, the deadliest in Maine’s history, millions were raised for victims and their loved ones through the Maine Community Foundation (MCF).
According to LePage and the victims, almost $2 million of the funds raised never made it to the Lewiston shooting victims. Instead, those funds have gone to local organizations with no direct connection to the shooting or its victims.
“Ann and I were pleased to help raise over $474,000 for victims and their families involved in the Lewiston shooting,” LePage said in a statement:
We were overwhelmed at the time by the outpouring of support for people in my hometown. Now, I am incredibly concerned money intended for these victims and their families may have been diverted elsewhere,” said Paul LePage:
It’s about broken trust. Victims, families, and Mainers believed every dollar would help victims heal. Instead, we’re finding out funds were diverted with little transparency. I continue to stand with the victims and families who are suffering from this shooting. [Emphasis added]
LePage said that of the 29 organizations that received the diverted donations, some provide aid and services for newly arrived migrants, including AK Collaborative, Empowered Immigrant Women Unite, New Mainers Public Health Initiative, Somali Bantu Community Association, and United Youth Empowerment Services.
“I am torn between gratitude for the support, then angered when I was facing a $93,000 outstanding hospital bill that was denied by insurance,” Jennifer Zanca, who was shot in her arm during the Lewiston shooting, said in a statement. “When I found out the MCF distributed twice as much to each non profit, than I received as someone with substantial injuries, this opened my eyes to the inequities.”
Destiny Johnson, who was present during the shooting, said Mainers who donated “never knew part of the fund wasn’t going directly to victims and survivors.”
“It feels like betrayal,” Johnson said. “Some of the families still haven’t financially recovered, and yet donated money was given out to other people.”
Kelsay Hathaway, whose brother Maxx was killed in the shooting, said, “It feels like our tragedy was just used to take advantage of people and their willingness to help the families in their time of need.”
“We trusted this Foundation and now, because they were not forthcoming about how the funds would be distributed, we all discovered our own needs were not prioritized,” Hathaway said.
LePage is demanding an investigation into the matter from Maine’s Government Oversight Committee.
“Victims and families should receive a full investigation into what was communicated both to them and donors by the Foundation, why these unconnected groups received cash, and how it was spent,” LePage said. “These families deserve answers.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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