Stephen, Tabitha King Donation Boosts Asylum Seekers Fund

PORTLAND, Maine — Authors Stephen and Tabitha King and others have donated to a fund for asylum seekers in Maine pushing the total available to more than half a million dollars.Mayor Ethan Strimling and city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin told the Portland Press Herald city administrators received a check from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation Monday.The donations go to the Community Support Fund, which is set up to help hundreds of asylum seekers who have arrived in Portland in recent weeks.Portland also received a $22,000 donation from the Karina Foundation, a Massachusetts-based charity, putting their fund over $500,000.Portland's currently housing about 600 people each night, with about 400 being recently arrived asylum seekers. Most are fleeing from political, economic and military problems in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.