Maine Savings has announced a gift of a minimum $50,000 to the University of Maine Athletics Department for the grand opening of their Stillwater Avenue branch.
The donation will comes in the form of a Black Bear Debit Card. Maine Savings will donate a minimum $10,000 per year for the next five years of the deal.
“It’s a great thing for us where our community business is making a direct investment with scholarships,” said UMaine Athletic Director Karlton Creech. “With every swipe of the debit card, money goes towards the scholarships.”
Every time the card is swiped, Maine Savings will donate 5 cents to the UMaine Athletic Department. Once donations reach the minimum amount of $10,000, five cents will be added to the fund.
Former UMaine goalie and current Detroit Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard was on hand Friday during the opening of the new branch to help spread the word about the program and sign autographs for fans.
Creech was pleased with the partnership between UMaine and Maine Savings, a relationship that has been progressing over the last seven years.
“It’s been an ongoing partnership between Maine Savings and the athletic department for years and really, this is just the next generation of that partnership.” Kreech said.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Maine Savings John Reed spearheaded the effort and was excited to see the money going towards furthering UMaine athletics and the Black Bear Fund. The Black Bear Fund is UMaine’s athletics fundraising system, raising money for student-athlete scholarships.
“We have had a partnership with UMaine for probably seven years and we just signed a new five-year agreement with them that involves even more than our last agreement. The biggest thing is the exclusive Black Bear debit card. It’s a great thing for us as well as the fans and the university. The fan gets to pull out a Black Bear card and every time they swipe it we contribute about a nickel to the Black Bear Fund.” Reed said.
Reed, a UMaine graduate with two degrees, hopes that the growing partnership with Maine Savings and the UMaine Athletic Department will encourage other community businesses to do what they can to help out.
“The fans love the Black Bears and I think businesses, if they can, need to dig in and contribute however they can to the University to support these kinds of things.” Reed said.