PORTLAND, Maine — By Monday, June 25, 2019, the city of Portland received more than $500,000 including a gift from the family foundation of Stephen King, to help with asylum seekers who have arrived in Portland in recent weeks.
According to the Portland Press Herald, city administrators received on Monday a $40,000 check from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. They also report that city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin and Mayor Ethan Strimling announced a $22,000 donation from a Portland family.
The $22,000 gift came from a Massachusetts-based charity, the Karina Foundation, on behalf of the Hewey family, who live in Libbytown.
Many people contribute to the city’s Community Support Fund, which is believed to be the only municipally funded and operated program that delivers direct financial assistance to noncitizens.
The asylum seekers are primarily from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are fleeing political, economic and military problems in their home countries. They mostly arrive on buses from the southern border.
