Posted on January 29, 2012

Alfond Foundation Awards $10.6 Million to Maine Community College System, Good Will-Hinckley

The Portland-based Harold Alfond Foundation has announced a $10.58 million grant to the Maine Community College System and Good Will-Hinckley school for an expansion project.

The grant will enable MCCS to purchase six hundred acres and thirteen buildings at Good Will-Hinckley, expanding the capacity of Kennebec Valley Community College by at least fifteen hundred students. The grant includes $8.35 million to MCCS for capital improvements to the KVCC campus, including $5 million for construction of a new wing at the Averill/Alfond school and $3.35 million for campus upgrades and infrastructure; and $1 million toward a $4 million acquisition of land and property at Good Will-Hinckley. The expanded KVCC campus will include an academic building, a modern recreation center, and an organic farm, which the college hopes eventually will house the state's first associate degree program in agricultural science.

The foundation also awarded $1.5 million to Good Will-Hinckley in support of its new Maine Academy of Natural Sciences. Launched in September, the high school offers residential and day programs focused on agriculture, sustainability, forestry, and environmental studies.

"We are delighted to be able to support the Maine Community College System, an institution so vitally important to bringing higher educational opportunities to the people of Maine," said Alfond Foundation board chair Greg Powell. "That we can assist the Maine Community College System and Kennebec Valley Community College while also investing in the future of Good Will-Hinckley makes this gift a win-win."