Peninsula ‘yellows-up’ against domestic violence in July

Dozens of local businesses have joined Finding Our Voices' monthlong "Into the Light!" fundraiser

July 7, 2026

By Staff

Fin & Fern chef-owner Andrew Chappell (center) is donating July proceeds from his "Sunflower Pizza" to Finding Our Voices. He is pictured with Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices (left) and board chair Liz True (right) Photo courtesy of Patrisha McLean.

BLUE HILL—Restaurants, retailers and farm stands across the peninsula are participating this month in the second annual Into the Light! Yellow Festival fundraiser for Finding Our Voices, which runs from July 1 through July 31.

According to a press release, 35 businesses are promoting “yellow menu and retail delights for the entire month of July.” Proceeds from the event will be donated to  Finding Our Voices, the release said, with “100 percent of the money raised” being directed toward “shelter, transportation, legal, and other critical needs for women domestic abuse survivors from Hancock and Washington counties.”

Finding Our Voices is a “grassroots, statewide 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,” the release said. Programs include providing access to donated dental care, Get Out Stay Out funding, an online support group and Healing Together retreats, and Healthy Relationship residencies in middle schools and high schools.

A “sister” Into the Light! Yellow Festival is also taking place in Midcoast Maine this month, the release said, “with 91 participating businesses across 16 towns from Damariscotta to Stockton Springs and including two Penobscot Bay islands.” 

Patrisha McLean, founder and CEO of Finding Our Voices, said in the press release that the range of Into the Light! offerings “shows the extraordinary creativity and generosity of the business community.”

A full list of participating businesses and their July Into the Light! Offerings can be found on the Finding Our Voices website. 

Diana Santospago, the “Maine Lobster Lady”, is donating July's handmade lemonade proceeds to Finding Our Voices. Photo courtesy of Patrisha McLean.

“Not only does this event raise money for us to continue providing safety, comfort, and freedom to local women domestic abuse survivors, but the extraordinary support of the business community signals to every domestic abuse survivor living here or visiting that they are not alone and that the community cares about them," said board chair Liz True in the release.

According to the group's website, yellow is the color of Finding Our Voices "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."

A benefit concert at the Glendarragh lavender farm in Appleton will close out the Into the Light! festival on August 1. For more information visit the Finding Our Voices event listing.