LEWISTON — Ifraax Saciid-Ciise, a Lewiston Somali interpreter and nonprofit director, is now the face of a widening backlash over how “Lewiston Strong” donations were split after the October 2023 mass shooting, after her organization, IFKA Community Services, was listed among 29 nonprofits that received equal checks from the Maine Community Foundation’s Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund.
Records published by MaineCF and show the foundation distributed $1.9 million through its Broad Recovery Efforts & Organizations Fund, with each nonprofit receiving $62,522. IFKA Community Services is included on the recipient list.
The dispute has turned into a political and media firestorm. Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones launched a Change.org petition urging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to investigate and audit how the money was distributed.
On Fox News, the controversy was featured last week on “Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany,” with the segment description focusing on how the $1.9 million was distributed to nonprofits and why residents are demanding an investigation.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6387868635112
NewsNation has also repeatedly pushed the story through multiple segments tied to “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” promoting reporting by correspondent Rich McHugh on where the money went.
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“Ethnic community-based organizations” — and the City Hall showdown
As criticism mounted that nonprofits received money despite not being victims or families directly harmed by the tragedy, Saciid-Ciise addressed the controversy at the Lewiston City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, arguing the recipients were being mislabeled and that the organizations serve Lewiston residents she said were traumatized.
She stated the “NGO” label is wrong and insists, “this narrative really has to stop,” framing the recipients as “ethnic community-based organizations” serving residents affected by the trauma.
Critics in Lewiston have responded with anger, not just over the payout itself, but over what they describe as activists using public meetings to lecture the city about who “should have” gotten the money. Many noting that the non profits were not affected by the tragedy.
The Mogadishu Store connection — and a separate law-enforcement raid
Saciid-Ciise’s public profile has also intersected with another downtown headline.
A 2023 New Hampshire Public Radio report identified her mother, Shukri Abasheikh, as the owner of Mogadishu Store in Lewiston, and noted that “across the street” Abasheikh’s daughter, Saciid-Ciise, runs a nonprofit focused on nonviolent communication and restorative justice. (Abasheikh has also been identified as the store’s owner in earlier national coverage.)
Last week, Lewiston Police executed a search warrant at The Little Mogadishu Store, 240 Lisbon St., describing it as part of a lengthy fraud investigation and emphasizing it was not related to immigration enforcement. Police said the U.S. Department of Agriculture assisted.
Authorities have not publicly detailed the specific fraud allegations connected to the warrant, and reported that as of the day of the search, police had not shared additional details.
Who she is
Saciid-Ciise has been described in regional news coverage as an interpreter and nonprofit leader. Maine Public identified her as a Somali interpreter and nonprofit director. An Amjambo Africa profile described her as the founder of IFKA Community Services and detailed the organization’s work serving Somali-speaking immigrants and refugees in Lewiston.
For now, the fight over donor intent and “who got what” isn’t cooling off, it’s escalating, with City Hall speeches, a DOJ-audit petition, and national cable coverage turning a local wound into a national spectacle.
