Do Good Group Puts Profit Where the Need Is and Calls for Community to “Match Us”
Dec 01, 2025
BAR HARBOR—Lizz Sturm, Bangor native and former teacher’s kid, knows how often teachers use their own money when their students are hungry. She also knows that the MDI community steps up and takes care of each other over and over again.
As the new CEO of Oli’s Trolley, Sturm is a part of that stepping up.
That’s because she’s a part of The Do Good Group, a new startup with Maine roots, which was created to buy Maine businesses in a way that allows people to keep their jobs, and also keep the ownership and economic impact in the state.
That’s a perfect match for Sturm and so is where the narrated trolley tour’s business profits are going toward this month.
“I’ve grown up in Maine and come from a family of teachers, so I’ve seen first-hand the impact of food insecurity in our communities’ schools,” Sturm said. “When considering where to reinvest some of Oli’s Trolley’s profits, I knew just where the funds should go. Many of MDI’s amazing teachers, staff, and administrators use their own money to have food items on hand for children who come to school hungry, which is why we made our largest donation to the MDI Backpack Program. I know my local business colleagues share my commitment to this great community and will do what they can to give a bit more as we navigate these difficult times.”
Do Good Group’s Founder David Engle’s long-term goal is ambitious: create 1,000 Maine jobs and donate at least $1M annually to local charities.
Engle is the kind of person who hits his goals and the goals of his companies.
Oli’s Trolley in Bar Harbor was Engle’s first acquisition for the Do Good Group.
“When the owners of the family-run business were ready to retire, they sought a new owner who would continue their deep commitment to the Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island communities. The Do Good Group purchased the local icon in August. Today’s donations represent the first reinvestment of profits into the local community,” according to a press release.
Engle is now reinvesting Do Good Group’s first profits by donating $10K to three local food programs.
The donations coincide with a time when SNAP benefits are expected to be restored but families are still facing an immediate gap. To help close that gap, Engle is challenging other business owners to “match us” this December (and will donate regardless of participation).
The first $3,000 went to the Bar Harbor Food Pantry and another $3,000 went to the South Portland Food Cupboard. Another $4,000 to the MDI Backpack Program, which sends food home with students across Mount Desert Island.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust earlier this week also pledged $1,000 to the Bar Harbor Food Pantry.
MORE ABOUT STURM AND THE DONATIONS
Oli’s Trolley’s longtime owners Denise Morgan and Larry Sweet led their family-run business for over 33 years.
They passed that torch this year with a priority of making sure that the next stewards of Oli’s Trolley shared their commitment to the Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island (MDI) community. They sold to Do Good and Sturm stepped in as CEO.
“We spoke with many groups, but Do Good Group stood out for their values and vision,” said Morgan and Sweet at the time. “We’re thrilled to have Lizz at the helm. Her passion for Bar Harbor and commitment to community-driven growth make her the perfect leader to guide Oli’s Trolley into its next adventure.”
Oli’s next adventure now is part of doing good. This year’s focus on two local organizations that deal with food insecurity is key for Sturm. The need is great.
The Hancock County 2025 Food Insecurity fact sheet released by the state says that there are 7,360 food insecure people in the county and 1,820 of those are children. That 13.1% rate for all individuals is slightly less than Maine’s 13.8% rate.
The MDI Backpack Program is in its tenth year of addressing food insecurity for local children by partnering with area schools. The backpack program provides food for students during the week and packs of food to bring home for the weekend.
The program’s co-director Vicky Smith said, “When we began our program, a past principal from Connors Emerson School shared that she could see the worry in some children’s eyes on Fridays. We hope that doesn’t happen now. Our program relies 100 percent on donations and the dedication of our volunteers so we appreciate the Do Good Group’s challenge, which will help draw attention to our unique needs–particularly as we approach the holidays, which always demand fuller backpacks. If someone is aware of a child in the area who could needs food assistance, please help by contacting the school counselor, nurse, teacher, principal or office team at the school they attend. They will take it from there.”
Another backpack program on Mount Desert Island serves students at the Pemetic and Tremont schools.
Approximately 174,145 people in Maine receive monthly SNAP assistance. That number includes approximately 59,200 children and 40,200 older adults. Approximately one-third of those receiving SNAP funds have a disability.
Many food pantries which provide support to people who are food insecure have had to deal with cuts to USDA programs that have historically provided more support.
Food insecurity is nothing new in the Mount Desert Island region.
“In 2024, Bar Harbor Food Pantry (BHFP) saw nearly 12,000 visits, tripling the number of households served compared [to] the past two years [sic]. As food insecurity continues to rise in Mount Desert Island and surrounding areas, BHFP is working hard to meet the need,” the Bar Harbor Food Pantry representatives said earlier this year.
“We have gone from seeing 20-35 people a day in 2022 to 48-101 people per day in 2024,” former BHFP director Tom Reeve explained in November 2024.
Bar Harbor Food Pantry Acting Director Phoebe Denvir said its program needs both monetary help and volunteers.
“Bar Harbor Food Pantry welcomes anyone who lives in Hancock County, and while Bar Harbor and MDI are known for their seasonal nature, the needs in our area are year-round,” Denvir said. “Volunteers are essential to what we do and how we do it. We invite anyone to call, stop in, or visit our website to learn how they can help. We remain deeply grateful to our many dedicated supporters who have contributed significant time, food and money to help us serve anyone experiencing hunger and food insecurity in Hancock County. We’re pleased to add the Do Good Group to that list.”
“In Maine, we kind of help everybody out. If you have a dollar, you give a dollar, even if it’s your last dollar, because you know someone’s going to return that favor,” Sturm said. “So, throughout my career, I was involved.”
What she’s been involved with are things that had social impact. It’s part of who she is and what she does.
“And so it was great to see something like the Do Good Group come up and to see that it’s a different take. I think everybody knows social impact is part of what we need to do to make the world a better place and help people. But how it’s being approached with Do Good is completely different. And that’s what’s exciting is we get to focus on growing the business. But the purpose of that is so that we can reinvest those profits right back into the community,” Sturm said.
Do Good is different, she said.
“With Do Good Group, we can do whatever the community needs,” she said.
The group can allocate what resources they have, reinvest profits from Oli’s Trolley into donations, and it can be flexible and reactive to need.
“Using the food banks and the MDI program was kind of like something that was close to me as food insecurity, but also (because of) my family. My brother was a teacher. My dad’s a teacher. My best friends are teachers. Maybe in a different world, I would have been a teacher,” she said. “But there’s such a huge impact that removing food insecurity can have on our communities, on our younger age groups, even our aging population. And so that’s kind of where we targeted those funds. And it means a lot to me. And even getting to talk to the staff at each of these organizations, the work that they do is just, you couldn’t, I can’t highlight it enough.”
THE REASON FOR DO GOOD
The local Do Good story involves Sturm and Oli’s Trolley and organizations they’ll help, but the broader Do Good story involves Engle doing good throughout his life.
Growing up in the tri-state area, he had a neighbor with autism.
“And I saw that some small things would bring smiles to his face, and that was success for me, right?” he said in an interview earlier this week. “And growing up, I’m Jewish, and at our local synagogue, my father would do carnivals to raise money for certain holidays in the Jewish religion.”
By the time he was nine, Engle took those carnivals over.
“I was sourcing toys from Allentown, Pennsylvania, from all over the country and I saw the joy that these carnivals would bring all different kids. And I said, ‘Okay, how can I take that joy from the carnivals and bring smiles to people like my extra neighbor?’”
So, when he was 14, he launched a nonprofit, Carnivals For Children On Wheels, that brought free carnivals to children all across the tri-state area.
“We impacted over 4,000 kids, over 100 volunteers, and at that point, I really realized at the end of the day, all that matters is in a sense, you know, community and happiness,” he said.
All that was in high school.
Everything else he’s built has been focused around that positive community impact.
“To me, it’s if you impact the community, if you have things that people actually relate to, money will always fall, right?”
A recent business he’s built involves e-commerce that helps Goodwill and Salvation Army, as well as other nonprofits, divert over 100 million pounds from landfills.
“We moved to Maine and we fell in love with it—just the people, the community, how everyone, in a sense, looks out for each other, and just the way of life. So, we fell in love,” Engle said. “We put roots down and we said, ‘We’re never moving, and we want to be a part of the community. And we want to support Maine in the ways that everyone loves (about and in) Maine.’ The whole idea is buy businesses here. Keep them here. Donate the money here. And, you know, when we buy businesses, not bring in people from outside the state, hire people here within Maine, like Liz, and keep them in the community” that keeps the good in the community, too.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE:
Information about each organization and links to make donations follow:
- The MDI Backpack Program aims to eliminate food insecurity for children in Mount Desert Island, Maine, serving Mount Desert Elementary School, Conners Emerson School, MDI Highschool, Trenton Elementary School and Cranberry Isles Schools. They offer additional support through a Southwest Harbor program that serves the Pemetic and Tremont schools through Harbor House. Sponsor a backpack by visiting the organization’s website.
- The South Portland Food Cupboard is dedicated to alleviating hunger by distributing nutritious and fresh food as well as education and support services to people in Cumberland and York counties. The organization welcomes donations via its website.
- The Bar Harbor Food Pantry’s mission is to build food security to strengthen the greater MDI community. Please visit its website to donate, become a volunteer or review a list of current needs, including how to donate perishable and non-perishable items.
- MDI BACKPACK PROGRAM AT HARBOR HOUSE
- For the Pemetic and Tremont Backpack Program, head over to the Harbor House site here. To donate head over here.
To learn more about The Do Good Group
Oli’s Trolley:
- 207-288-9899
- info@olistrolley.com
- 55 West Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, US
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Rick Osann Art.
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