Since 1999, Finders Keepers has been hiding colorful glass floats on Lincoln City beaches almost every day. This summer, some of those floats are raising money for dozens of Oregon coast nonprofits.
The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation commissioned 128 specialty floats that were handcrafted by Lincoln City Glass Center and Alder House. The floats were hidden by Finders Keepers’ float fairies earlier this month. Each float is linked to one of 50 coastal nonprofits, and when someone registers their find, the foundation makes a donation to the nonprofit.
So far, only 55 of the floats have been registered as found, which means dozens are still waiting to be discovered along 7 miles of Lincoln City beaches, from Roads End south to Siletz Bay, according to a news release.
The first 10 floats found triggered donations of $5,000-$10,000 each. Subsequent finds generate smaller donations, with the foundation giving out a total of $128,000 in grants. (Even if not all of the floats are registered as being found, the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation will still distribute all of the funding.)
Marie Lamfrom served as a nurse in World War I and escaped Nazi Germany with her family to live in Portland. “My grandmother adored the Oregon coast — especially beach combing and looking for treasures like agates and glass fishing floats," says her granddaughter Sally Bany.Courtesy of the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
The benefitting nonprofits include organizations focused on education and mentorship, arts and creativity, and health and wellness all along the Oregon coast. Among them are Wally’s House, Liberty Theatre Astoria, Newport Symphony Orchestra, Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers, Food Roots and the Lincoln City Cultural Center.
The foundation commissioned the specialty floats to celebrate what would have been Marie Lamfrom’s 128th birthday. She was the mother of Gert Boyle, the longtime chairwoman of Columbia Sportswear, and the grandmother of Sally Bany, who cofounded the foundation in 1998.
“My grandmother adored the Oregon coast — especially beach combing and looking for treasures like agates and glass fishing floats — so we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate her legacy than by supporting the coastal communities she loved so dearly,” said Bany in a news release about the specialty floats.
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
