Imagine getting your name into the Guinness Book of World Records. Now imagine doing it for the third time. Collin Gouldin did just that on September 4, 2010 when he made the world’s longest candy necklace. Using at-cost candy he got from a California candy company, Gouldin turned his one bedroom apartment into an assembly plant of sorts as he stuffed handfuls of tiny candy beads into shaped plastic tubes. Winding them into utility buckets, he stored them at his place, battling insects and late night munchies, until he had the required number to set the record.

While his earlier records were set for personal reasons, Gouldin used this encounter with the Guinness Book for a cause. IDEAfarm, an Atlanta based non-profit organization, got every dollar earned in this world record. IDEAfarm assists college students who have big ideas to change their community, and Gouldin was proud of his fund raising effort. Sponsors were asked to fund a section of the 1,141 meter sweet for $5. A total of nearly $1,700 was raised fort the humanitarian project.

Gouldin’s first two world records were less eye-raising. He first appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 when he took the title for the most strawberries dipped in chocolate in one minute. Dipping 53, he managed to chocolate-coat slightly less than one per second. It put him on the map. He popped up again in October 2010 when he set the record for the (then) longest lasting drum roll. At 4 hours, 10 minutes, 12 seconds.

The necklace was a bigger project. Taking several months to assemble, Gouldin turned out a masterpiece. It measured 1,141 meters long (1,247.8 yards) and weighed 230 pounds (that’s 177,100 candy beads). When displayed for official measuring, it snaked through the parking lot of Willow Bend Church.

While Guinness Book officials were not present due to finances, the measurement was made by a land surveyor, making it official enough even for Guinness.

“It’s really about doing something that no one else in the world has ever done and that’s really appealing to me,” he told Saeron Yoo, reporter for neighborsgo.com. His pride, though, was in the fundraising effort. "All the money I'm raising from this is going to IDEAfarm to help these students change these worlds forever," he said in another interview, this one with Andrew Tolentino of PegesusNews.com

If you are interested in seeing your name in the Guinness Book of World Records, Gouldin has a simple tip. In the interview with the Dallas/Ft. Worth PegesusNews, Gouldin said, "I think the key to breaking records is to find something that's done poorly or not at all." By attaching the project to a worthy cause, you can also add your name to the list of people who have made a difference in a much bigger way.