Lending a Helping Handstand

Eleven-year-old Max Finn proved this spring that if you have a big idea and a big heart, you can make a big impact on ending hunger here.

Max, a nationally-ranked gymnast from Georgetown, Massachusetts, created a fundraiser this spring called Handstands for Hunger, convincing gymnasts across New England to perform handstands in return for donations to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). Max said he came up with the idea because he wanted to help people at risk of hunger.

“When I was 5 and 6, I used to go to food pantries to serve hungry people, so I wanted to help them,” he said. “Why not do something I love while helping people?”

Supporters of Handstands for Hunger could either make a flat donation or donate a chosen amount per second a gymnast held a handstand. Although Max can hold a handstand for more than five minutes, the maximum time set for a handstand for the fundraiser was one minute.

Max began knocking on neighbors’ doors and soliciting donations in early February, while also spreading the word on social media. Max, who trains with Yellow Jackets Gymnastics in Middletown, reached out to youth gymnastics coaches across New England.

On March 15, young gymnasts across the region did handstands in their gyms. More than 60 people donated a total of $4,114.50 to Handstands for Hunger.

Max’s father, Jonathan Finn, helped facilitate a pledge of approximately $5,000 from Speedway Children’s Charities, bringing Max’s total to nearly $10,000, or enough to provide 30,000 meals to struggling families across Eastern Massachusetts!