August 2009 Archive

2009 - 2010 HAROLD ALFOND COLLEGE CHALLENGE FACT SHEET

What is the Harold Alfond College Challenge?

The Harold Alfond College Challenge is an unprecedented higher education grant program that provides a $500 grant to start a NextGen® College Investing Plan account for all Maine resident babies (see restriction below). The Harold Alfond College Challenge is the nation’s first statewide philanthropic scholarship grant program,
launched right here in Maine!

What is the goal of the Harold Alfond College Challenge?
The goal of the Harold Alfond College Challenge is to give every Maine resident baby a start toward a promising future. With the $500 grant, parents can begin to help their children pursue education beyond high school. Starting an account now, with the ability to contribute as the child grows, is a great way to help put him on the road to success.

Who can receive the $500 grants?
Maine resident babies born on or after January 1, 2009, including babies who are adopted by Maine parents or whose parents move to Maine before the baby’s first birthday are eligible to receive the Harold Alfond College Challenge grant. Also, Maine babies born at MaineGeneral Medical Center in 2008 who are under 1 year of age are eligible. There are no income limits and, while there is no requirement to add to the accounts, it was Mr.
Alfond’s hope that families and businesses and possibly even communities would continue contributing to children’s NextGen® college savings accounts.

Who Administers the Harold Alfond College Challenge?
The Harold Alfond College Challenge is administered by the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) which is also the program administrator of NextGen, Maine’s Section 529 plan. FAME is a quasiindependent state agency that provides innovative financial solutions to help Maine people and businesses pursue educational and business opportunities. To learn more about FAME, please visit www.famemaine.com.

What is the Alfond Scholarship Foundation?
The Alfond Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established specifically to sponsor and support the Harold Alfond College Challenge. The foundation is a partnership of organizations and individuals who truly embrace Mr. Alfond’s philosophy, and includes representatives from the Maine Compact for Higher Education, FAME, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Community Foundation, the Mitchell Institute, and at large representatives from MaineGeneral Health and the Maine Hospital Association.

Who was Harold Alfond?

Harold Alfond is the late business entrepreneur, founder of Dexter Shoe Company, and Maine philanthropist who established the Harold Alfond Foundation, the first private foundation in Maine, in 1950. Mr. Alfond had a lifelong commitment to the people of Maine and was deeply committed to his charitable causes. He brought a business mindset to his philanthropy by partnering with organizations he felt were well run and had important missions, and by fostering teamwork and partnerships through his matching challenge grants. His giving focused on education and health care, especially programs for youth. He had a personal practice to open college funds for his grandchildren upon their birth, providing the impetus for the Harold Alfond College Challenge, his legacy gift to every Maine baby.

How can parents get more information about the Harold Alfond College Challenge?
Parents may request NextGen® enrollment materials be mailed to them directly or they may download the materials by going to www.500forbaby.org. Families may also call FAME at (800)228-3734 or email FAME at info@500forbaby.org. Information sessions to assist people in completing the NextGen account enrollment form are also regularly scheduled throughout the State. 

2009-2010
HAROLD ALFOND COLLEGE CHALLENGE: BACKGROUNDER

Launched in Maine in 2008, the Harold Alfond College Challenge is the nation’s first statewide philanthropic scholarship grant program. Continuing the late philanthropist Harold Alfond’s lifelong commitment to education, the Harold Alfond College Challenge provides all Maine resident babies with a $500 grant to start a NextGen College Investing Plan ® account for education beyond high school.

The Harold Alfond College Challenge is sponsored by the Alfond Scholarship Foundation, a partnership of organizations and individuals which truly embraces Mr. Alfond’s support of higher education, and includes representatives from the Maine Compact for Higher Education, the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), the University of Maine System, the Maine Community Foundation, the Mitchell Institute, and atlarge representatives from MaineGeneral Health and the Maine Hospital Association.

The Harold Alfond College Challenge was piloted in 2008 at MaineGeneral Medical Center in partnership with FAME, reaching out to the more than 1,200 babies born at the Augusta and Waterville hospitals in 2008. Nearly 60% of those babies are already enrolled. In 2009, with the assistance of the Maine Hospital Association, the Challenge was extended statewide to all Maine resident babies born on or after January 1, 2009 who are enrolled by their first birthdays. FAME provides ongoing administration of the Harold Alfond College Challenge. Over 1,400 babies are already enrolled.

To help families prepare for higher education, Alfond Grant recipients will receive quarterly communications with information about the value of aspiring to higher education, college savings and other related topics. For more information on the Harold Alfond College Challenge please call (800) 228-3734 or visit www.500forbaby.org.

BIOGRAPHY:

HAROLD ALFOND

Most describe him as having been modest, easygoing and affable. He considered himself a regular, hardworking guy and was usually seen wearing a ball-cap and casual clothing. Looking at his cheerful, smiling face, you would never have guessed he was one of the wealthiest and most generous people in Maine.Born to Russian immigrants in 1914, Harold Alfond grew up in the small town of Swampscott, Massachusetts. After high school, he turned down an athletic scholarship to Dartmouth College, instead following his father into the working world. He got a job at Kesslen Shoe Company in Kennebunk, Maine and, in short time, rose from odd shoe boy to factory superintendent. According to legend, Harold’s big break came in 1940 when a hitchhiker told him about a vacant shoe factory in Norridgewock, Maine. With help from his father, he purchased it for $1,000. Four years later, Harold sold the company for $1.1 million.

In 1956, Harold Alfond purchased an old woolen mill in Dexter, Maine and began the Dexter Shoe Company. During the next 37 years, Dexter Shoe became one of the nation’s largest shoe manufacturers. With his nephew and business partner, Peter Lunder, Harold grew his business by investing in technology and developing innovative ways to sell shoes. In the mid-1960s, Harold opened a store at one of his factories and started selling factory-damaged and outdated inventory shoes to the general public. By the 1990s, the Dexter Factory Outlet chain had expanded to more than 80 stores. In 1993, at age 79, Harold sold Dexter Shoe to Berkshire Hathaway in an unprecedented deal with billionaire investor Warren Buffet.

Although he had a long and illustrious business career, Harold Alfond’s name is synonymous with generosity in Maine. Harold began his charitable endeavors early in his career. In 1950, he established the Harold Alfond Foundation, the first private foundation in Maine. Harold is credited with bringing a business mindset to the world of philanthropy; choosing only organizations he felt were well run and had important missions. He was deeply committed to his charitable causes and, because of his love for sports and strong belief in education and health care, he tended to support athletic facilities, academic buildings and hospitals, including his long-standing and intimate relationship with MaineGeneral Medical Center. While building his business, Harold Alfond was also busy building his family. He married Dorothy “Bibby” Levine in 1943. Together they raised four children, Ted, Susan, Bill and Peter, and passed on their strong sense of family unity to their many grandchildren and great grandchildren. The whole family often gathers for extended summer holidays in Belgrade Lakes, Maine. Throughout their life together, Bibby was a partner in all of Harold’s charitable giving. Their works influenced the entire family, who continue to support their own cases as a tribute to the lessons they learned from Harold and Bibby.