The Lewiston shooting fund scandal isn’t going away. As the controversy goes nationally on NewsNation and Fox News, survivors and families say the growing attention is only reinforcing what they’ve been arguing for months: the public still doesn’t have clear answers about where the money went, and why.
The dispute stems from the fallout after the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston, when a gunman opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille, killing 18 people and injuring 13. In the aftermath, Maine Community Foundation established the Lewiston–Auburn Area Response Fund as donations poured in and later distributed money to nonprofits as part of recovery efforts.
But the distribution has ignited a backlash from survivors and families who say they’re still struggling, and that donations raised in the name of victims were sent to organizations that were not directly affected by the shooting.
This Maine Wire reporter went to seven different nonprofits that received shooting funds but were not directly affected by the shooting: YWCA, United Way, Generational Noor, LA Youth Network (located inside MEIRS), United Youth Empowerment Services, and AK Collaborative. The reporter said they were assured they would hear back from the YWCA and United Way. As of publication, I have not heard back.
The story hit another flashpoint Saturday during an interview with Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News. McEnany spoke with Amy Sussman about what Sussman called a new development: one of the nonprofits that received money has agreed to “give it back,” but not by returning the original funds. Instead, Sussman said, the organization plans to donate an equivalent amount to service providers, a move she described as meaningful, but also a sign that public pressure is forcing action.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388598730112
“It’s pretty incredible news,” Sussman said, arguing that even a partial retreat matters because “it sent [a message] to the rest of the nonprofits that you should do the same thing.”
Sussman said she hopes the move increases pressure on other nonprofits and on the Maine Community Foundation and the fund administrators she referenced, to correct the distribution. She also drew a sharp comparison between what survivors received and what each nonprofit received, warning that the current structure sends an ugly message to the people who lived through the shooting.
“Each nonprofit receives $65,522,” Sussman said, adding that survivors could hear the distribution as a statement that “these nonprofits are twice as important as a person who was shot and survived.”
She also pushed back on language that reduces survivors to “witnesses,” emphasizing that many were fleeing attempted murder and may carry the trauma for life. In her telling, nonprofits often step in to raise money because survivors are exhausted and overwhelmed, but that doesn’t justify sidelining the people who were actually targeted.
“These people were escaping their attempted murder,” Sussman said. “Their needs are ongoing… each survivor and family member know that you matter more.”
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1362758402267298
This topic will almost certainly be a topic during public comment at the Lewiston City Council meeting on Tuesday February 3, 2026, starting at 7:00 p.m.
