WESTBROOK, Maine — Salt & Pine Company is just one local business whose owner has taken it upon herself to help people directly impacted by last week's tragic events in Lewiston.
Owner Amanda Dyer created a "Maine Strong" T-shirt design, and she said she's sold more than 1,600 shirts, raising more than $30,000.
All proceeds will be donated to families who were impacted by the mass shooting through the Maine Community Foundation's Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund.
"It was literally just a light bulb. Thursday morning I'm like, 'Oh my God, I need to list a T-shirt,'" Dyer said.
Given the massive influx of purchases, Salt & Pine Company is working with another Westbrook business, 320 Ink, to help print the shirts.
"To be able to turn it into something like this where we can come together and do something like this, it's been, I just don't have the words to describe it," Dyer said. "The traffic on my website- just when it stops, someone shares the post, and I get traffic again. I'm like it's not stopping. It's just continuing, and people just they're doing it and it's crazy."
Dyer said she'd close orders for the "Maine Strong" T-shirt design Wednesday night. Once she gets caught up on the massive influx of orders, she wants to permanently add the design online to continue supporting victims and their families.
She said she eventually wants to add even more gear, like sweatshirts, to the "Maine Strong" lineup.
"I think my first instinct was literally just these shirts and seeing the response and the support just to buy a T-shirt to be able to donate is what has kept me going," Dyer said. "It's crazy how Maine, is such a, it's a big state, but it's such a small community when we show that we can all come together to do something without even a thought. We're just like 'What can we do?' So I feel like that has kind of helped me through."
If you're interested in supporting Salt & Pine Company with its fundraising efforts for those impacted by the Lewiston mass shooting, click here.