PORTLAND, Maine — Maine loves its iced coffee, especially when it supports communities.
On Tuesday, Dunkin' will donate a dollar from each iced coffee sold to its Joy in Childhood Foundation.
It will then be distributed to three Maine hospitals supporting kids with illnesses. That includes kids like 7-year-old Kenzie Barker, the only Mainer living with infantile Pompe disease, which causes glycogen to build up on muscles and organs.
This year the fundraiser supports St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, and the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Rob Reider, the philanthropy manager for Barbara Bush, said the hospital has received the grant for 11 years now, which allowed them to hire key staff members.
"Our care teams are incredible," Reider said. "Doctors and nurses go above and beyond every day, and so do our child life staff. They are focused on the psychosocial element of being in a hospital, so essentially, they are hard at work every day making the hospital less scary. Thanks to support from Dunkin' through Iced Coffee Day, we have been able to increase the presence of child life specialists."
The fundraiser excludes cold brew and nitro cold brew coffee. In 2022, Dunkin' Iced Coffee Day raised $1.8 million for the Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation, which was granted to 93 children's hospitals across the country.
In 2022, $55,000 was raised for the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. Every dollar raised in Maine stays in Maine to fund the grants for the three hospitals, according to Kevin Gove, a public relations manager with Rinck Advertising.