Archive Posts for 2010

Augusta, ME – “Future Faces of Maine” Casting Calls will be held at the Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle on Sept 30 and at the Wyndham Hotel Ballroom in South Portland across from Maine Mall on October 16. The Casting Call events not only help search for fresh Maine baby faces for advertising the program, but give all eligible Maine babies and their families the opportunity to receive help completing the application for the $500 Harold Alfond College Challenge Grant. 

The $500 Alfond Grant is available to all Maine babies when a NextGen College Investing Plan account is opened by their first birthday. At the casting calls, Maine babies under the age of one will receive a free professional portrait and may have their picture appear in future Harold Alfond College Challenge advertising.  Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) staff will be on hand with information and to provide assistance in completing the enrollment form for families interested in the $500 grant.

Casting call events held last fall and earlier this year attracted over 1,300 Maine babies and assisted in the opening of nearly 1,000 NextGen accounts to receive the $500 grant.  There are over 5,800 babies already participating in the program. There are no income limits and no contributions are required to receive the $500 grant. Funds in the NextGen account may be used to pay for qualified higher-education expenses at any accredited post-secondary school, including four-year and two-year public and private colleges, certificate programs, trade schools, and even graduate schools.

1 To be eligible for the favorable tax treatment afforded to any earnings portion of withdrawals from Section 529 accounts, withdrawals must be “qualified higher-education expenses,” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code.

Please remember there's always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities.

“Mr. Alfond hoped that, by offering this start for all Maine babies, others would help with the pursuit of higher education,” said Elizabeth Vanderweide, program manager for the Harold Alfond College Challenge.  “So, while making additional contributions isn’t required to receive the grant, we do hope families and others will also invest in these children’s futures.”

The Harold Alfond College Challenge will hold the Casting Call events on Thursday, September 30, from 3;30 – 6:30 at the Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle and on Saturday, October 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Wynham Hotel Ballroom (glass towers) across from Best Buy at the Maine Mall in South Portland.

Bangor Daily News, July 11, 2010

Portland Press Herald June 28, 2010

Sun Journal, June 28, 2010

Lewiston Sun Journal's view on the Harold Alfond College Challenge

5,000 Alfond Baby Milestone Reached

Sebastian Bond of Brunswick, Maine has a head start on his college education thanks to his parents Andrew and Melanie, and the Harold Alfond College Challenge Grant. Bond is the 5,000 Maine baby to receive the Grant.  As with all Maine babies under one year of age, Sebastian was eligible for a $500 grant from the Alfond Scholarship Foundation to start a NextGen College Investing Plan (NextGen) account.

Born at 9:30 a.m. on May 6, 2010 at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Sebastian is one of approximately 13,500 Maine resident babies born each year who can receive the Alfond Grant as long as they sign up before their first birthday.  The Harold Alfond College Challenge was created to help families aspire to and prepare for higher education by starting early.  Since 2008, the Alfond Scholarship Foundation has contributed $2,500,000 to tax-advantaged NextGen college savings accounts.

 “One of the best gifts for us to give as parents is to enable Sebastian to grow up and be what he wants to be, and this is one way for us to help him get started at a very early age,” said Andrew Bond, Sebastian’s father.  “We heard about the Alfond Grant when it originally made the news and it was reinforced as a good idea in our birth classes and at our doctor’s office.”

 “I had to pay for school myself, and knowing how difficult it was for me, I would rather he not have to go through that same struggle,” said Melanie Bond, Sebastian’s mother.

“The Alfond Grant gets you to start thinking about saving early on.  If the money had not been there to start the account, it would have been easier for us to put off saving,” said Andrew Bond.

Harold Alfond, former owner of the Dexter Shoe Company, believed all Maine children deserve the opportunity to succeed.  By establishing this grant program before he passed away in November 2007, he encouraged aspiration and access to higher education for all Maine’s children.

There is no requirement to add personal funds to the accounts, though it was Mr. Alfond’s hope that families, businesses and even communities would invest in these children’s futures.  According to the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), administrator of the program, 40% of all Maine babies born since January 1, 2009 are being enrolled before their first birthday and over 25% of all families are making additional contributions to their babies’ accounts.

Families may request NextGen application materials be mailed to them directly or they may download them by going to www.500forbaby.org.  Any questions about the Alfond Grant or NextGen should be directed to FAME 1-800-228-3734 or info@500forbaby.org

Please remember there's always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities.

WCSH coverage of our March 13, 2010 Casting Call

• Harold Alfond College Challenge Grant - The Free Press

• Considering College funds- The Coastal Journal

• Calling all babies for Harold Alfond $500 college grant

•   Hospital educates parents about Alfond grant

• Babies, parents invited to sign up for college grant Saturday

• Maine college savings program hits milestone

Zachary Ball of Farmington, Maine is the 2,500th Alfond Baby

Augusta, ME – On July 17, 2009, Zachary Ball was born at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME. On December 28, 2009, at only 5 months old, Zachary received a head start on his college education when he became the 2,500th Maine baby to receive the $500 Harold Alfond College Challenge Grant. As with all of Maine’s resident babies under one year of age, Zachary was eligible for a $500 grant from the Alfond Scholarship Foundation to start a NextGen College Investing Plan® (NextGen®) account. His parents, Nicole and Isaac Ball of Farmington, learned of the program through publicity earlier in the year while Nicole was expecting Zachary. Nicole thought it was too good an idea to pass up and completed the application to receive the grant because she was already thinking about saving for college; she wasn’t sure she could start so soon with her own resources, however. Mrs. Ball said, “It’s never too early to start saving. I think if you don’t start right away, you forget how quickly time passes and, the next thing you know, they are off to school.”

Zachary’s mom, Nicole, is a kindergarten teacher and his dad, Isaac, is a physician’s assistant at Franklin Memorial Hospital. “We are just getting on our feet from our own school loans and we would like Zachary to have a better experience paying for college; we hope to add to these savings in the future,” says Nicole.

Nicole thinks about her son growing up and says, “When Zachary turns 18 and is considering his own future plans, we’ll be able to say, ‘When you were young, we enrolled you in this program so you could have college savings.’”

Beloved, late Maine philanthropist Harold Alfond, former owner of Dexter Shoe Company, established the program before he passed away in November 2007 to ensure access to higher education for all Maine’s children. There is no income limit or need for families to contribute their own money to receive the grant. A NextGen account must be opened for the baby by the baby’s first birthday to receive the Alfond Grant.

Elizabeth Vanderweide, Program Manager for the Harold Alfond College Challenge, says the number of families enrolling their babies in the program is meeting program goals. “About 15% of 2009 Maine babies born are already enrolled, but each baby has until their first birthday to enroll – so many more are expected to take the opportunity. Although no initial or subsequent contributions are required to receive the Alfond Grant, what is really impressive is that 25% of families have already made the investment in their child by making further contributions.”

Mr. Alfond’s legacy gift to Maine is extraordinary, the only one of its kind in the nation. The Harold Alfond College Challenge is a program sponsored by the Alfond Scholarship Foundation and is administered by the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME). Vanderweide says, “The success of the program is attributable not only to Mr. Alfond’s generosity and love for Maine, but to the help from the champion hospitals, physicians, child care providers, employers and parents who spread the word that this program is real and not too good to be true.”

FAME staff is available and happy to answer questions and help people complete the necessary paperwork to receive the $500 Alfond grant. “Most people complete the paperwork in about 15 minutes or less,” says Vanderweide.

The Alfond Grant, including any earnings on the funds, may only be used for qualified higher education expenses at any accredited postsecondary school or program; including certificate programs, trade schools, associate, bachelor and master degrees, and some foreign institutions that participate in certain federal financial aid programs.1 For more information on the Harold Alfond College Challenge, please call (800) 228-3734 or visit www.500forbaby.org.

1 To be eligible for the favorable tax treatment afforded to any earnings portion of withdrawals from Section 529 accounts, withdrawals must be for “qualified higher education expenses,” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code.

About the Alfond Scholarship Foundation

The Alfond Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit corporation established specifically to sponsor and support the Harold Alfond College Challenge. This new 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 members that include representatives from MaineGeneral Health and the Maine Hospital Association. To learn more about the Harold Alfond College Challenge, please visit www.500forbaby.org.