Foundation Gives Youth Football in Maine $250K Boost

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Harold Alfond Foundation has made a $250,000 grant to the Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation to support youth and amateur football in Maine.

The fund, formerly known as the "Coach Mac Fund" in honor of Old Town native and longtime coach Richard "Dick" MacPherson, will be renamed the "Richard MacPherson and John Huard Maine Football Fund" to recognize the contributions of the two Maine football legends.

Huard is a native of Waterville who was an All-America linebacker at the University of Maine and played for the National Football League's Denver Broncos before enjoying a successful coaching career.

"We look forward to working with National Football Foundation, the Maine Chapter, and the broader Maine youth football community in rolling out the 'Mac-Huard Fund,' with a mission to advance coaching quality and football programs in Maine and to fund scholarships for Maine football student athletes," Greg Powell, chairman of the Harold Alfond Foundation, said in a press release.

In addition to supporting existing initiatives of the foundation's Maine Chapter, such as youth leagues, start-up high school programs and clinics, the grant will allow the organization to distribute scholarships to selected college-bound scholar-athletes honored at its annual awards banquet in the spring.

"On behalf of the members of the Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation and all of the interscholastic and youth football programs in the state of Maine, we are truly excited and sincerely appreciative for the development of the Richard MacPherson and John Huard Maine Football Fund," Marty Ryan, president of the Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation, said in a press release.

Harold Alfond was a recipient of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's Gold Medal Award in 1995. MacPherson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Huard is the CEO of Northeast Turf and was honored by the Maine Chapter in 2009.

Student-athlete nomination forms and grant requests will be distributed to coaches and athletic directors in the coming weeks.

Founded in 1950, the Harold Alfond Foundation furthers the philanthropic legacy of Harold Alfond, founder of Dexter Shoe Co. and a longtime supporter of Maine communities in which he and his family worked and lived.