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WATERVILLE — The Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCA of Greater Waterville at the Alfond Youth & Community Center were presented with two gifts during their annual appeal that will be game-changers for Camp Tracy in Oakland.
Greg Powell, CEO of the Harold Alfond Foundation and foundational supporter of the AYCC announced a $1.5 million grant. Laurie Hawkes, longtime supporter of Camp Tracy, AYCC’s summer camp, announced a Hawkes family gift of $500,000. The two donations, along with lead gifts from LL Bean of $200,000 and $100,000 from Jim and Rhonda Hughes, will support major renovations at the Camp Tracy campus, on McGrath Pond.
The donations will fund a new dining and recreation building that will host up to 300 kids at a time. With a commercial kitchen, fireplace, wrap around porch, and residential spaces, this addition provides rental opportunities to support the camp’s mission. The gifts will also fund renovations that include parking, building a sixth cabin, resurfacing the lower turf field, covering the Hawkes basketball/tennis court and upgrading the ropes course.
In the early 1960s, Camp Tracy was founded by Lester Jolovitz, Richard Hawkes and George Keller, who envisioned providing local kids a fun, safe summer full of outdoor activities with friends and mentors. Since acquiring the 32-acre camp two decades ago, AYCC has developed it into a day and residential camp for kids throughout New England and beyond. In 2005, New Balance Foundation kicked off the first round of capital projects with a $1,000,000 challenge grant that helped build the Hawkes Retreat Center, LL Bean Rope Course, Dead River 55-foot climbing Tower, five residential camps, Jolovitiz Outdoor Theater, Keller Activity Building, Beck Archery Range, Peter Alfond Waterfront Pavilion, Plum Creek Outdoor Education Building and Harold Alfond Maine’s Fenway Park. These projects and resulting programs attract hundreds of children to Camp Tracy daily through camps and tournaments. More than 50% of those attending receive financial aid scholarships. The campus offers innovative programming through partnering with schools, Scouts, colleges, nonprofits and local businesses.
“The numbers of kids benefitting from a summer at Camp Tracy continues to grow every year,” Hawkes said. “We want to ensure the facility and programs are ready and well-equipped to meet these growing needs with the highest quality of service.”
