BY MATTHEW STONE

Staff Writer

Fourteen thousand babies could be born in Maine in 2009, and each one will be eligible for $500 to begin a college savings account.

So will each baby born in Maine thereafter.

Alfond Scholarship Foundation officials announced Thursday they will extend the $500 benefit to every Maine-born baby, a year after the group launched a pilot program at MaineGeneral Medical Center campuses in Augusta and Waterville.

Dozens of babies and their parents crowded the auditorium in the University of Maine at Augusta's Jewett Hall for Thursday's program launch announcement.

Some parents signed their children up for the benefit as Gov. John Baldacci, mothers and officials from Alfond Scholarship Foundation and MaineGeneral spoke.

Danielle Piecewicz, of Winslow, said she was surprised to find out her twins Emily and Lily would be eligible for $500 each.

"I was so shocked," she said. "In my skepticism, I thought, 'What's the catch?'"

Piecewicz said she filled out the paperwork to enroll her daughters while at the hospital.

"When they grow up, they're going to be so appreciative of this gift," she said.

The program is the brainchild of the late philanthropist Harold Alfond. The Dexter Shoe magnate never graduated from college and he long dreamed of making college possible for Maine children, his son, Bill Alfond, has said.

Dubbed the Harold Alfond College Challenge, the program doled out scholarship money to more than 1,200 Maine newborns in its pilot year at MaineGeneral.

As a child grows, the $500 in the NextGen federal "529" savings plan could grow to $2,000 by the time college age comes around, according to early projections by the Alfond foundation and the Finance Authority of Maine.

Parents can choose to invest the 529 funds in stock or bond mutual funds, or money market funds. Families can also make regular contributions to the accounts, which are administered by the Finance Authority of Maine.

Although they are commonly referred to as "savings accounts," contributions to 529 plans can lose value in volatile investment markets.

About half of Maine high school graduates in 2002 enrolled in college, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Nationwide, 65 percent of 2002 graduates started college.

Parents said Thursday that they have always had plans for college in store for their babies.

Jeremy and Jennifer Rackliff, of Augusta, said that the money provides a welcome boost toward college for their son, 11-month-old Jett.

"It was always the idea, but this helps out, for sure," Jeremy Rackliff said.

"College was always a priority for her," Melinda Guise, of Augusta, said of her 11-month-old daughter, Danica Derocco, "but with the added money, then it will just make life easier for all of us."

Harold Alfond Foundation Chairman Gregory Powell said, "Every Maine child deserves this start."

And MaineGeneral Chief Executive Officer Scott Bullock called the scholarship program's expansion a "cause for celebration."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com