126 Midcoast businesses are spreading light in July
Chris and Karli of Peter Ott's on the water in Camden with their July Into the Light! offerings of Lobster Ragoons with Pineapple Salsa and Karlita mocktail with pineapple juice and Morita chili. Patrisha McLean photo
Chris and Karli of Peter Ott's on the water in Camden with their July Into the Light! offerings of Lobster Ragoons with Pineapple Salsa and Karlita mocktail with pineapple juice and Morita chili. Patrisha McLean photo
Sushi grade yellowfin tuna, saffron seafood paella, yellow rose gelato, banana caramel bonbons, golden milk lattes, pineapple spritz mocktails; plus yellow books, jewelry, clothing, and table setting accessories. These are some of the offerings to eat, drink, and buy in Midcoast Maine, Bucksport, and the Blue Hill Peninsula in July to support women domestic abuse survivors. The fourth annual Into the Light! Yellow Festival fundraiser for Finding Our Voices boasts a record 126 businesses in 26 towns and on two islands donating all or part of July proceeds from special yellow menu and retail items to the grassroots, statewide nonprofit.
The money that is raised will help keep local women domestic abuse survivors and their children safe with payments for shelter, transportation, and legal fees through the Finding Our Voices Get Out/Stay Out Fund.
Patrisha McLean, CEO+Founder of Finding Our Voices, says the range of Into the Light! participants and yellow offerings “shows the extraordinary creativity and generosity of our local business owners.”
The Pentagoet Inn in Castine has concocted a pineapple sponge cake with coconut meringue, at Lincolnville's inn restaurant, Aster & Rose, the Into the Light offering is the Maine wild blueberry cake with lemon curd and ice cream, The Causeway at the Craignair Inn in Spruce Head has brought back its legendary roasted cauliflower with curry aioli.
Food co-ops in Damariscotta, Rockland, Camden and Blue Hill are all on board with healthy yellow delights, as are eight vendors at farmer markets. Hawaiian pizza with pineapple can be enjoyed at Camden House of Pizza, Owen's General Store in Lincolnville, and Alexia's in Belfast, a sunflower pizza with yellow beets at Fin & Fern in Stonington, and a dessert variety with lemon curd and blueberries at Strong's Public House in Sedgwick.
Independent bookstores in Rockland, Rockport, Camden, Searsport, Bucksport, Castine, and Blue Hill are promoting books with yellow covers, yellow linen-covered journals, an enamel pin, and Virginia Giuffre's memoir.
Michael Good Gallery, Windsor Chairmakers, and Camden Curated are hosting in-store raffles for, respectively, handcrafted signature hoop earrings and yellow milk-painted stool, and bountiful baskets of themed yellow collections.
McLean says, “Not only is this the biggest fundraiser of the year for our grassroots nonprofit, but the wholehearted support of so many businesses signals to every domestic abuse survivor resident or visitor that they are not alone and that our communities care about them."
Yellow is the color of Finding Our Voices, according to McLean, because "We are led by survivors who have managed to cross over to the bright side of safety and freedom, shining a light for our sisters who are still in the dark."
Full listings of participating businesses and their Into the Light! offerings in Midcoast Maine, Bucksport, and the Blue Hill Peninsula are at https://findingourvoices.net/into-the-light-2026
The lead sponsor for the Midcoast is First National Bank and the Blue Hill Peninsula event lead sponsor is Camden National Bank.
Capping this year's Into the Light! is a music festival fundraiser for Finding Our Voices on Saturday, Aug. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Glendarragh lavender farm in Appleton. Siblings Jackie and Wyatt McLean will be performing publicly together for the first time followed by The Sugar Snaps and The Right Track band.
Finding Our Voices is the grassroots, Camden-based nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse across Maine and providing heart-healing and life-mending support and resources to women survivors and their children. Programs include access to donated dental care through the award-winning Finding Our Smiles, Get Out Stay Out funding, an online support group and Healing Together retreats, and Healthy Relationship residencies in middle schools and high schools.
For more information visit https://findingourvoices.net
