Finding Our Voices was awarded $10,000 at the Westbrook Strong 5k by Laurie and Gary Rairdon who started the race event 11 years ago to commemorate their son who was killed in domestic violence.

 

Five hundred runners and walkers including many children as well as dogs gathered at Riverbank Park in Westbrook on the morning of Saturday, July 13 in an ever-growing community event honoring Matthew Rairdon. In 2013, Rairdon was 22 years old and working in his first job as an ER nurse at Mercy Hospital when he was gunned down in the entryway to his apartment by an ex-boyfriend.

 

A total of $36,000 was raised from the 2024, 11th annual event which started with the children’s sprint “Matt’s Mile.” Finding Our Voices was the special beneficiary this year with the remainder of proceeds going to nursing scholarships including at Matthew’s alma mater St. Joseph’s College of Maine. 

 

Event organizers made bright yellow the color of their race T-shirts this year to align with Finding Our Voices. The nonprofit’s CEO and Founder Patrisha McLean said yellow is their color,  "because we are survivors who managed to escape from domestic abuse and we are shining a light for our sisters in Maine who are still in the dark.”

 

Laurie Rairdon announced the donation to Finding Our Voices after the race, alongside her husband Gary who is a Westbrook city councilor.  “Gary and I had a very hard time in the beginning it being labeled domestic violence,” she told the assembled crowd that included the extended Rairdon family, “because it wasn’t what we envisioned domestic violence looking like. Matthew had ended his relationship and was moving on with his life. Unfortunately the person [who killed him] was not. You just never know who is walking those shoes. It could be your neighbor, your co-worker… and as long as you continue to be a friend or ear, it’s a matter of time before someone we hope will reach out to you and say ‘I need help.’ Thankfully there are resources.” 

 

McLean said, “It moved me to tears to see a community come together as it did on July 13 to honor a hometown son, and also to see a family turning unfathomable private darkness into such a powerful beacon of light and love. It is an honor and privilege for Finding Our Voices, and for me personally, to be connected to such a beautiful event, and to such a beautiful family.”

 

McLean founded Finding Our Voices following the 2016 domestic violence arrest of her husband of 29 years. “For all that time,” she said, ”I thought I was alone, I didn’t know what I was going through was domestic abuse, and I didn’t know there was a way out. This massive donation from the Westbrook Strong 5k is going to help a lot of people across Maine recognize domestic abuse, know they are not alone, and cross over to the bright side of freedom and safety.” 

 

Finding Our Voices is the grassroots and survivor-powered nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse one conversation and community at a time across Maine. Its programs include access to free, gold-standard dental care, a Get Out Stay Out fund, and online support groups.

 

Laurie Rairdon will be on the panel of a Finding Our Voices presentation at the Westbrook Community Center on September 16 talking about the impact of domestic abuse on the family. The talk is part of the group’s 10-stop, fall, “Let’s Talk About It” tour that includes survivor-led presentations to the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland, Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Southern Maine Community Center, and Elements bookstore and coffee shop in Biddeford.  

 

For more information about Finding Our Voices visit https://findingourvoices.net/ and  for more information about the WestbrookStrong5k visit https://www.westbrookstrong.org/