LEWISTON, Maine — Close to a thousand monarch butterflies were released Saturday in Lewiston as a tribute to the lives of loved ones lost, including the victims of the Lewiston mass shootings.
Hosted by Andwell Health Partners, the event has been running for 15 years for families as a symbolic release of grief and to celebrate loved ones' spirits passing on.
"So this is what came to be; a small little event at the Hospice House in Auburn," Andwell Health Partners President and CEO Ken Albert said, noting the once small event now has a turnout of hundreds. "I like to wonder who's on me right now, and [it] certainly represents something to me and I know to the people who are here."
During a ceremony beforehand, volunteers read the names of family members and of the 18 victims who were killed in the Lewiston mass shootings in October.
Afterward, family members were able to walk around the hundreds of butterflies on the lawn of Geiger Elementary School, where the event was held.
"It warms your heart," volunteer Brian Scharold said, who first started as an attendee and now helps to put on the event every year. "Butterflies are a very important part of my life. One flew over my wife's casket at the cemetery and they're there when I need them."
Attendees like Bill Bendelak, who lost his wife Ruth a few months ago, say the event was very cathartic to help him move on and honor his loved one.
"She carried through life everything that people should endow with one another; love, compassion, understanding," Bendelak explained.
The money raised from the event will go towards Andwell Health Partners' hospice and bereavement programs.