When I asked BDN editorial cartoonist George Danby what was on his mind as he sat down on Thursday to create the day’s cartoon, he said, “I realized that I would have many days to draw other aspects of this terrible tragedy, but for the first image I felt I needed the image of the state. And the heart placed in proximity to Lewiston seemed like the perfect image: Simple but also complex in conveying so much upon hearing this sad and horrific news.”
On Friday, as the BDN news staff paused from covering the manhunt, we started to notice something happening. “I was seeing normal people, friends of mine from outside politics or journalism, sharing that cartoon. It was just poignant,” BDN politics editor Mike Shepherd said.
The idea quickly came together to merge Danby’s art with a way to raise funds in support of victims of the Lewiston shooting, their families and community. The Maine Community Foundation had created the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund the day before to collect funds for exactly that purpose.
We couldn’t imagine a better match.
Alison Bradshaw from our audience team quickly adapted the original image for reproduction, and we are now offering a collection of Lewiston-support clothing and totes featuring Danby’s original art.
All proceeds from the sale of this collection will be donated to the fund. Every penny earned that doesn’t go to pay for our costs to produce and ship your item will be donated.
Explore the collection here. If you would prefer to make a direct tax deductible donation to the fund, here’s the link.
In this painful moment for Maine, our mission is not only to unflinchingly tell the story of a terrible tragedy and keep Maine informed, but to use our reach to make a difference. We hope this small effort will help.