The Maine Winter Sports Center, in response to losing its chief source of funding last winter, has announced it is redefining its mission and launching a $20 million endowment campaign to support its programs well into the future.

“Our commitment to Maine communities will continue, and the quality of our programs will continue,” said Andy Shepard, Maine Winter Sports Center president and CEO.





Maine Winter Sports Center was created in 1999 with the mission to make a difference in Maine’s rural communities by promoting healthy, active, outdoor lifestyles through recreation and competition programs.

Over the summer, Maine Winter Sports Center held multiple staff retreats to reassess its mission and plan for the future. As a result, the center’s recently-released revised mission is “empowering Maine to build an active, outdoor future through world-class resources and challenge-based programs.”

“We really haven’t changed what we’re doing,” Shepard said, “but we’re changing how we communicate it. This is our effort to reach out to the state of Maine and help people understand what we do.”

In 15 years of operation, the center has captured media attention by training 15 Olympic athletes and hosting the state’s first World Cup Biathlon in 2004. What’s often overlooked by the media though is the center’s community programs, which have so far reached 140 communities throughout Maine, engaging thousands of people in year-round outdoor activities.

“We want the people of Maine to have a full understanding of all the programs Maine Winter Sports Center has to offer,” Shepard said.

In February, the Libra Foundation announced it was ending its financial relationship with the Maine Winter Sports Center. The foundation had been a principal source of funding for the center for its first 15 years of operation, contributing about $550,000 each year and representing nearly two-thirds of the center’s $885,000 annual budget.

The Libra Foundation also retained two world class Nordic ski venues in Fort Kent and Presque Isle, though Maine Winter Sports Center will continue to have full access to both of the venues for their programs.

“We were surprised,” Shepard said of the announcement.

Right away, Maine Winter Sports Center launched a fundraising campaign, and they are on track to raise $1.75 million by the end of the fiscal year, Shepard said — an amount that equals nearly two years’ worth of revenue for the center.

“To have lost basically all funding less than a year ago [and] to be in this position already is really a testament to the support Maine Winter Sport Center has from all around the state,” Shepard said.

“Failure is not an option,” he added. “What we do for the state is too important.”

Over the next few months, the public will be hearing about Maine Winter Sports Center through television and radio ads and social media as the organization works to dispel three common misconceptions: that the center is just for Aroostook County; that the center only holds programs in the winter; and that the center only trains elite athletes.

All three statements are false, Shepard said.

In addition to its world class racing program, Maine Winter Sports Center offers:

— Adventure Initiative Program: year-round guided outdoor excursions for high school students and young adults for self-discovery, outdoor skill-building and leadership development.

— Youth Development Program: year-round outdoor programs for children ages 10-14 that may include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, biathlon training, mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking and running.

— Active Maine Project: year-round outdoor classes and trips for adults in communities throughout the state. This program “seeks to build a sustainable model of outdoor opportunities for anyone ages 18 and older in every community in Maine.”

— Healthy Hometowns Program: a statewide equipment rental program providing quality outdoor equipment to schools, clubs, organizations and communities at affordable prices. Maine Winter Sports Center center owns more than 2,000 sets of cross-country skis, as well as hundreds of mountain bikes, canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and snowshoes, Shepard said.

— Club Development Program: providing communities interested in starting or reorganizing outdoor clubs with a template, shared best-practices and education to run outdoor programs and events.

— Trail Works Program: providing education, project consultation, volunteer training, site assessment, design services and construction services to communities and organizations looking to develop nonmotorized recreational trails in Maine.

“It’s about teaching a community to fish instead of giving them fish,” Shepard said.

While the center started out with a heavy concentration on winter sports, it’s branching out to offer more programs during snow-free seasons. For example, in 2015, Maine Winter Sports Center plans to offer nine Adventure Initiative trips for a total of 90 Maine teens, and at least five of those trips will be scheduled in the summer.

“We’re looking for high school kids around the state to find out about that program and apply,” said Shepard.

Dustin Ramsey, 18, of Hampden participated in an Adventure Initiative backpacking trip in Maine’s Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area between his junior and senior year of high school. In addition to typical backpacking and tenting skills, he learned about group dynamics, leadership and the power of keeping a positive attitude.

“I learned things like how to work with a group to accomplish something and how to stay positive when it has been raining for three days and all your stuff is soaked and you’ve just gotten to camp — which is one situation we found ourselves in,” Ramsey said. “I learned how to get along with people and really enjoy being outdoors, regardless of the conditions or how tough it is.”

When teens complete the Adventure Initiative, they are sent home with a challenge: to make a positive effect on their communities by leading an outdoor-related project. Ramsey chose to improve an existing trail system behind Hampden’s schools.

“It kind of snowballed,” Ramsey said. “I started working with other people in the community, and it ended up becoming a lot more than what I initially intended.”

The second phase of the Reeds Brook Recreational Trail Project, the construction of about two miles of additional trails in Hampden, was completed this summer. And this winter, Ramsey and others involved in the project are working on collecting the equipment and volunteers needed to keep the trails groomed for cross-country skiing.

Ramsey also participated in the Maine Winter Sports Center race program in high school, and today, he’s living in Aroostook as he attends the center’s post-graduate program for competitive cross-country skiing.

“If I hadn’t joined Maine Winter Sports Center’s junior team in high school, I probably wouldn’t have continued skiing,” Ramsey said. “Now I plan on skiing in college next year.”

To learn about the many programs Maine Winter Sports Center has to offer, visit www.mainewsc.org. To learn more about the center’s revised mission and endowment campaign, visit www.mainewsc.org/pdf/MWSC-Prospectus.pdf.