Alfond Foundation adds $750K to Maine Maritime scholarship fund

Courtey / Maine Maritime Academy The Maine Maritime Academy campus in Castine.

Write a Comment

After meeting a fundraising challenge from the Harold Alfond Foundation, Maine Maritime Academy in Castine said it has received a $750,000 grant to add to an endowed scholarship fund set up by the foundation in 2014.

The donation comes three years after the foundation challenged MMA to raise a total of $2.25 million and increase the alumni participation rate to 20% in annual fund giving.

The Vision 20|20 campaign exceeded that goal, raising more than $2.7 million and reaching 24.5% alumni participation by June 30, 2020.

“We have increased our alumni participation rate by 15% in the last decade, which is a significant accomplishment,” said Maine Maritime Academy President William J. Brennan in a statement.

"This momentum, due in large part to the challenge and the energy of our alumni, will propel Maine Maritime Academy toward the goal of creating a culture of giving to ensure the school’s sustainability well into the future," he added.

The school said that about 80% of students require need-based scholarship assistance annually.

The college, which serves about 950 undergraduates and graduate students in career-oriented degree programs, said the grant will be added to the Harold Alfond Engineering Scholarship Fund.

It gives preference to Maine residents and first-generation college students who have earned at least a 3.3 high school cumulative grade point average (GPA) and have no final grade below 2.0 (C) in any course.

Scholarships are renewable for eight to 10 consecutive semesters, depending on a student's major, while maintaining a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

“We are so pleased that Maine Maritime Academy not only met this challenge, but substantially surpassed it,” said Harold Alfond Foundation Executive Chairman Greg Powell. “Our goal was to assist the academy in creating a culture of giving, and by raising well over the challenge goal of $2.2 million and reaching 24.5% alumni participation, this fine school is well on its way.”

About the Harold Alfond Foundation

The Harold Alfond Foundation, founded in 1950, furthers the philanthropic legacy of Harold Alfond, the founder of Dexter Shoe Co. and a longtime supporter of Maine communities in which he and his family lived and worked. It invests in education, health care, youth development and other philanthropic causes. Based on total giving in Maine, it is ranked No. 1 in a list of Maine foundations published in the 2020 Mainebiz Giving Guide.