PORTLAND, Maine — As the Lewiston community tries to heal since the mass shootings that took place two weeks ago, some Mainers in Portland are uniting Tuesday to raise money the best way they know how.
Luke's Lobster, J's Oyster, DiMillo's, and The Porthole are collaborating with lobstermen and dealers to raise funds for the victims and their families.
Lobstermen and dealers will donate lobsters, and each restaurant will serve up its own unique lobster special, donating all proceeds.
"If we can just do what we do and the lobster dealers can separate out the product and the restaurants can cook and serve it, then by just doing what we do, we can help Lewiston somehow," Steve Train, a lobsterman from Long Island, ME, said.
Train brainstormed the idea as a way to include some of the biggest restaurants on the Portland waterfront. After he made a few calls, he quickly learned the answer for restaurant owners came easy.
"Every one of them couldn’t answer 'Yes' fast enough," Train said.
“What better way then to eat lobster and try to help the victims," DiMillo's owner, Steve DiMillo, said.
"We're like 'Yeah, we're all in. Give us a call and let us know what we need to do'," Eddie Cartonio, the general manager at J's Oyster, said.
The fundraiser starts with setting aside lobster straight off the boats. Patrick Chadbourne, a lobster dealer at CBS Lobster, said he's hoping to donate 1,000-2,000 pounds of lobster to this cause.
"The beauty of it is that whether you’re working alongside these guys, next to them, competing with them—everyone's in it together. They know that it takes all of us to make it work," Chadbourne said. "With such a tightknit group across the dealers in Portland we can all come together for a better and bigger cause."
The Porthole owner John Jabar, from Waterville, said he, along with other Mainers, have an obligation to do their part to help people in Lewiston.
"This is something that just has never happened before. We’re not used to it, and you’ll see the community and the state and the people jump in," Jabar said. "We’re going to stick to what we do, and that’s serve good food and take the proceeds and do a good thing with it."
The Lewiston shootings were a bit more personal for the general manager at Luke's Lobster. Kevin Bowen said he used to live in Auburn and bowled at Just-In-Time, formerly known as Sparetime, on Thursday nights.
As the state is trying to process what happened, he said he hopes Tuesday will bring some comfort.
“It's always fun on the nights where we can feel that sense of community. Any time you’re raising money, anytime you're doing something to give back, it's, it just feels good," Bowen said.
The proceeds on Nov.14 will go to the Maine Community Foundation's Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund.