Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Eighty-five Aroostook County babies got a jumpstart on their higher education savings Oct. 29 thanks to the Harold Alfond College Challenge.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
Nine-month-old Grace Lindner, daughter of Lori and Ben Lindner of Stockholm, wasn’t sure if she should look at the camera operated by staff photographer Scott Mitchell Johnson or the one manned by Jim Jeffries, left, who was taking portraits of babies at the “Casting Call for Future Faces in Maine” that was held Oct. 29 at the Aroostook Centre Mall. In addition to the photo shoot, parents whose babies haven’t turned 1 yet could start a NextGen College Investing Plan® account and receive a $500 grant courtesy of the Harold Alfond College Challenge.
Named after philanthropist and founder of Dexter Shoe Co., the Harold Alfond College Challenge provides a $500 grant to start a NextGen College Investing Plan® account for every Maine resident baby born on or after Jan. 1, 2009. More than 1,400 Maine babies are already enrolled.
The organization that oversees the Challenge – the Alfond Scholarship Foundation – and the Finance Authority of Maine [FAME], administrator of NextGen, hosted a “Casting Call for Future Faces in Maine” at the Aroostook Centre Mall where parents received information about the $500 grant and completed the enrollment form with assistance from FAME staff.
“This is a celebration for Harold Alfond’s legacy gift to the state,” said Elizabeth Vanderweide, program manager for the Harold Alfond College Challenge. “Mr. Alfond decided he wanted to give every Maine baby a head start for college savings because he knew the importance of school in the future would be even more so than it is today … that an education beyond high school is really important.
“He used to give his own grandchildren a head start for their college savings, and he thought, ‘Let’s try to see if we can help the culture change into savers instead of borrowers,’” she said. “We’re here today to help people fill out applications. Parents need to fill out a six-page NextGen College Investing Plan account. It’s not the easiest form to fill out, but it only takes 10-15 minutes. We start that account and put the $500 in, and that $500 grant is a gift. With 14,000 babies born every year in Maine, that’s a $7 million gift each year. The unfortunate part is we have to make sure everybody signs up before the baby turns one.”
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.
The other component of the casting call was that new parents received free portraits of their babies that may be used in future Harold Alfond College Challenge advertising.
“We’ve learned that nobody wants to just come out and fill out paperwork when you have a screaming baby,” said Vanderweide, “but you’ll bring that screaming baby out to get their photograph so you have something to give for Christmas gifts. It not only gives the parents a nice photograph, but I do a lot of advertising online and posters, and I’d like to use Maine babies for those photos. We’re hitting all four malls in Maine during the month of October, and will have about 500 photos to choose from.”
Amanda LaPointe of Fort Fairfield signed her 2-month-old daughter, Emma, up for a NextGen account.
“Higher education is really important – I have mine – and it’s kind of the values I grew up with,” said LaPointe. “I’m glad my daughter will have that same opportunity, and I think the Harold Alfond College Challenge is a great program. It helps – especially lower income people – get the idea that they can get college money for their children … people start thinking about it sooner rather than later.”
Vanderweide said she was very pleased with the local casting call.
“It went very well … better than expected actually. We saw 113 babies at the event, and we enrolled 85 into the program,” she said, noting that some may already have been enrolled. “This is huge because as of Sept. 30, 2009, there were only 525 babies born in The County, so this event definitely helped us gather a huge percent of eligible babies in the region.
“Overall, at the four mall events, we saw close to 700 babies, and enrolled nearly 450 of them in the program,” said Vanderweide. “I think Mr. Alfond would be pleased.”
Parents who were unable to attend the casting call but would like to enroll their child before their first birthday can request the enrollment kit online at 500forbaby.org or call FAME at 1-800-228-3734.
