LEWISTON — A Texas nonprofit is questioning how more than $6 million in donations raised after the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting was distributed and is calling for a second review by the Maine attorney general.
Founded after the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the nonprofit Uvalde Foundation for Kids advocates for victims of mass violence and rapid relief aid.
In a letter sent last week to Attorney General Aaron Frey, founder Daniel Chapin raised concerns about how the Maine Community Foundation awarded funds to nonprofits and organizations from its Broad Recovery Efforts & Organizations Fund. Chapin specifically pointed out that five of the MCF’s 10 steering committee members were also representatives of organizations that received funds.
The Uvalde Foundation for Kids first flagged concerns in October 2024, when a group of survivors and family members reported they were denied assistance through the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund. The foundation launched its own investigation while requesting a review from the Office of the Maine Attorney General.
The AG’s office reviewed the early complaints and said in October they found no evidence of wrongdoing or mishandling of donations by the Maine Community Foundation.
In response to the Uvalde Foundation’s complaints, Assistant Attorney General Christina Moylan said in a letter dated Feb. 4 that they “have not identified any legal concerns with MCF’s processes or distributions.”
“As to the nonprofits who received funds through MCF’s (Broad Recovery Efforts & Organizations Fund), there were no legal restrictions on the use of the funds, they were free to use them at their discretion,” Moylan said.
According to the Maine Community Foundation, $6.6 million was raised in the aftermath of the shooting, with $4.7 million donated and distributed to victims, families and survivors and $1.9 million to community nonprofits.
The 29 nonprofit recipients received equal shares of $65,522, among them Gateway Community Services, United Way of Androscoggin County, Tree Street Youth, the Somali Bantu Community Association and Tri-County Mental Health Services, all organizations associated with members of the Maine Community Foundation’s steering committee.
To be eligible for grants, nonprofits were to be based in the Lewiston-Auburn region and provide or continue providing services to those directly impacted by the October shootings. Eligible services included therapy and trauma counseling, victim-focused legal and social services, emergency food, supplies and transportation, support system navigation, American Sign Language interpretation, cultural brokering and wellness programs such as yoga, art therapy and peer support.
Maine Community Foundation said their Broad Recovery Efforts & Organizations Fund supported community-wide recovery, and that victims’ families were consulted in the process.
Jeff Dion, a nationally recognized victims’ advocate who has worked with dozens of communities affected by mass shootings, including Lewiston, said at the time the fundraising effort here was a model for how to do it right.
“This was the 30th or 31st one of these I’ve done, and I think the response in Lewiston was the best that I’ve seen,” he said.
The Uvalde Foundation for Kids was formed in Temple, Texas, following the shooting in Uvalde, about four hours away. The group’s interventions in other states have raised questions about their methods and motives.
A spokesperson for the Uvalde Foundation for Kids said Tuesday that their lingering questions about funding arrangements for the Oct. 25 victims’ families and survivors is all too familiar.
“Here we are having the same discussions as they did in Uvalde, Texas, and so many others about why donated funds are not getting properly and directly into the hands of those who need and deserve it most — the victims,” Chapin said in his letter.
