Media report on Alfond Foundation’s $1.5M gift to UMaine Athletics

The Associated Press, Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, WLBZ (Channel 2), Mainebiz, WVII (Channel 7) and 92.9 FM The Ticket reported the University of Maine has received a $1.5 million, three-year award from the Harold Alfond Foundation to support UMaine Athletics. The Alfond Foundation will give $750,000 in unrestricted funds to UMaine Athletics to create the Alfond Fund, designed to increase the visibility of Maine athletics and encourage donor support to support all 17 of Maine’s Division I athletic programs, the Press Herald reported. In addition, the Alfond Foundation made a three-year commitment to continue its annual $250,000 matching grant for the Harold Alfond Football Challenge, which has assisted the football program since 2007, according to the report. “Absolutely it’s a great day for us,” UMaine Director of Athletics Karlton Creech said. “It’s a continuation of the existing grant for our football program, but this new element of the unrestricted grant will really serve as a catalyst for us to restructure our whole approach to annual giving.” The Washington Times carried the AP report.