Acadia Fire Annual Matching Fundraising Drive

Dear Friends,

As we enter the giving season and holiday celebrations, we at Acadia Fire FC recognize how much we have to be thankful for and to celebrate! The generous support of our donors has helped us meet our fundraising goals for the last two years and has carried us through some of the club’s biggest challenges and highest successes. Noted are the many AFFC players who are shining in colleges and prep schools around New England and in local schools, including two All-Conference Player of the Year awards and a college Rookie of the Year.

Over the past three years, our club has faced the hard challenges of our founding coach and director leaving, Covid shutting down our programming, and rolling-up our turf and moving out of our indoor home. We persisted and adapted by offering virtual training, no-touch skills training and inaugural summer programming. We turned cow pastures into playing fields and gymnasiums into Futsal havens. We fielded teams for Spring and Fall state leagues, started summer camps and a 4v4 program for our youngest players. We supported coaches in their pursuit of US Soccer licensing courses and have welcomed new coaches, players, board members and staff. Our families have stuck by us through these adapting times, keeping an eye toward the hire of an expert soccer leader and finding a place to call home.

Drum roll please… like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Acadia Fire FC is excited to announce that we have hired Mark Hundhammer to be our Director of Coaching AND… we are in the final stages of securing a new home where we can roll out our turf and increase our program offerings to maximize what soccer opportunities are possible in Downeast Maine.

This progress marks the start of a new era for the club, but one that will call on many of us to make it a success. Our path forward will involve predictable and unpredictable expenses as well as a possible lease to pay and players who will need financial assistance. We will work together as a team, because that is what we do. We have an opportunity to not only maximize the soccer offerings for our players, but also create an indoor athletic turf facility accessible for the whole Downeast region.

We are calling on you to support our journey with a financial donation that will help us turn the page to Acadia Fire’s future. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, we have the opportunity to have the initial donations of $10,000 matched. This is an opportunity that must be embraced!

With your financial donation we can kick into AFFC’s future with power and confidence! Thank you for your consideration and support. GO FIRE!!

With gratitude,

Emily Ellis, Executive Director

Acadia Fire FC, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to be Downeast Maine’s inclusive soccer community, providing consistent training, and trusted development for all ages.

Acadia Fire FC, Inc. is a soccer club in Downeast Maine with the mission to be an inclusive soccer community, providing consistent training, and trusted development for all ages. AFFC currently offers youth soccer programs to ages 5 to 19 years and varying skill levels. AFFC enters teams into Soccer Maine's Fall Classic Travel League and SoccerMaine's spring Maine State Premier League, while also offering its own 4v4 Fall Sparks! program, Winter Futsal and Skills Academies. All players are eligible to apply for Financial Assistance. AFFC is committed to giving all interested players the opportunity for soccer regardless of financial need. AFFC supports the development of its coaches by funding coaching education courses. AFFC strives to provide a player environment that is focused on learning the game while also having fun.