Patrisha McLean, left, CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices, with Laurie Rairdon, who started the Westbrook Strong 5K with her husband Gary to honor their son Matthew, who was killed by an ex-boyfriend. Contributed / Patrisha McLean The Westbrook Strong 5K race, founded by City Councilor Gary Rairdon and his wife Laurie in memory of their son who was murdered, has donated $10,000 to Finding Our Voices, a Maine advocacy group helping victims of domestic violence. Rairdon About 500 runners and walkers gathered at Riverbank Park in Westbrook July 13 for the event honoring Matthew Rairdon, a nurse, who at age 22 in 2013 was fatally shot by an ex-boyfriend.
The 11th annual race raised $36,000. Finding Our Voices was the special beneficiary this year, with the remainder of proceeds going to nursing scholarships, including at Matthew’s alma mater, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, according to a press release. Event organizers made bright yellow race T-shirts this year to match Finding Our Voices.
The group’s founder and CEO Patrisha McLean said yellow is the group’s 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 said at a gathering after the race that she and her husband at first had “a very hard time” thinking that their son died as a result of domestic violence, according to the press release. “It wasn’t what we envisioned domestic violence.