Sales of garden supplies, wood-fired pizza, and yard sale treasures in Lincolnville and Belfast brought in more than $9,000 to Finding Our Voices from caring community members.

Aubuchon Hardware and Christine Buckley and Rose Lowell presented the grassroots nonprofit with the proceeds of fundraisers at the start of October’s Domestic Abuse Awareness Month. The money is all going into the Get Out Stay Out Fund, according to Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices, in a news release. This program disburses an average of $12,000 a month to women domestic abuse victims across Maine for critical items to escape domestic violence, and help to rebuild the lives of themselves and their children. This includes short-term shelter, car, legal, home security, utility, storage unit and food expenses. The money is especially welcome now because “domestic abuse is always worse during the holidays, and November and December bring a huge spike in women needing money to get safe and keep their children and pets safe as well," said McLean.

Aubuchon Hardware chose the month of May for their annual fund-raising Round-Up campaign, according to Garden Center Manager Sandra Verdosci, because “that is our busiest month, and we wanted to raise as much money as possible for Finding Our Voices and local women survivors of domestic abuse.”  

Christine Buckley is one of 45 Maine survivors with their photo portraits on the famous Finding Our Voices posters that bring education and awareness in business windows and public bathrooms across the State. In June, she gathered a team to break the silence of domestic abuse in Lincolnville with a host of fundraising events for Finding Our Voices that included a huge yard sale and pizza party. The owner of Christine’s Framing Gallery, her daughter Lili Clement, Mary Kate Moriarty and her two children, and Rose Lowell each devoted more than 100 hours collecting, displaying and selling thousands of used treasures for a giant yard sale in June, and also organizing a pizza party that included homemade desserts and a lemonade stand.  

Patrisha McLean started Finding Our Voices following the domestic violence of her then-husband of 29 years Don “American Pie” McLean. The Statewide nonprofit marshals survivor voices and community creativity to break the silence, stigma, and cycle of domestic abuse. Its programs in addition to financial assistance include online support groups, access to free dental care, and educational campaigns including “Let’s Talk About It” public forums that in October are traveling to Portland and Falmouth. For more information about Finding Our Voices visit https://findingourvoices.net