FREEPORT — Maine’s first ChangeFest on Saturday, Oct. 28, will chase a world record for coins collected for charity at a public event outside L.L.Bean’s flagship store.
Created by World of Change, a new Maine-based nonprofit organization that converts spare change into social change for children and families, ChangeFest will feature six collection barrels for attendees to donate loose change to the cause of their choice. In addition, tens of thousands of dollars in change already collected by World of Change at Maine schools, camps and community events since its launch in March will be displayed and counted.
Hosted by L.L.Bean, ChangeFest is set for noon to 6 p.m. A satellite event will be held at L.L.Bean in Bangor from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the change collected transported to Freeport in an L.L.Bean Bootmobile.
The Freeport event will feature live music, children’s activities, performances by Circus Maine and food vendors. Admission is free, but a donation of change is appreciated.
Volunteer auditors with Baker Newman Noyes, a Portland-based accounting firm, will count and record change totals. The world record for the most money raised for charity in coins is $180,000, set in Lisbon, Portugal in 1998.
“The spirit of ChangeFest is to show that good things can happen when people come together with a common purpose to make change, literally,” said Matt Hoidal of Falmouth, the founder and director of World of Change.
The six, 55-gallon collection drums will be labeled for six areas of support: housing, food security, education, financial literacy, health and wellness, and children’s play. All change collected will be distributed to organizations partnering with World of Change, Hoidal said.
World of Change’s nonprofit partners are: Central Asia Institute, Y of Southern Maine, Maine College Circle, Junior Achievement of Maine, Good Shepherd Food Bank, Maine Locker Project, Students Against Destructive Decisions, Jen’s Friends Cancer Foundation, Maine Children’s Cancer Program, Bet Elazraki Children’s Home, Furniture Friends, Comfort Cases, Circus Maine and Boys and Girls Clubs of Maine.
FMI: worldofchange.world/changefest-2017/
Children deposit change into a drum as part of World of Change’s efforts to benefit nonprofits in Maine and elsewhere that service children and families in need.
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