Portland Pirates - Face-Off For a Better Community

Once again this season, the Portland Pirates and the United Way of Greater Portland have partnered for a multi-faceted alliance called "Face-Off For a Better Community", which is designed to increase awareness, education and funds for local community activities and outreach projects.

The Pirates and the United Way of Greater Portland share a strong commitment to the children, families and adults of this community and through this comprehensive partnership have committed to combine and leverage resources and strengths to make a positive difference in Greater Portland.

Pirates' local ownership, players, staff, and mascot are involved in several community activities, including Day of Caring, Campaign Kick-Off, Project Thanksgiving, Youth Engaged in Service projects, Summer Champs and branded fundraising initiatives on a year-round basis, including:

Information Booth: A United Way of Greater Portland Information Booth was set up in the Cumberland County Civic Center lobby at Pirates' home games throughout the 2004 Campaign.
"Evening With The Pirates: During the last eight years, the Pirates and their wives and girlfriends have hosted the annual "Evening with the Pirates". It’s a night of live and silent auctions of hockey memorabilia and goods and services from local businesses. There’s also food and great music. In past seasons, net proceeds from this event have been donated to the United Way of Greater Portland, the Federated Boys and Girls Clubs of Maine, STRIVE and the Children's Museum of Maine. Over the past eight years, this event has raised over $175,000.
Home Game Fundraiser: Tickets to a Pirates' home game in October were allocated for fundraising purposes with the net proceeds being donated to the United Way of Greater Portland.
Commitment to Portland's Diversity: Pirates' players who speak other languages and are from other cultures will connect to the constituencies in the local community through existing United Way of Greater Portland initiatives.
Unused Ticket Distribution: Pirates' season ticket holders will be encouraged to donate unused tickets to United Way of Greater Portland constituencies of families and less-advantaged children served through their partner agencies.

When the partnership was announced back in 2000, Pirates' President/CEO said, "(This) announcement represents a major turning point for our organization, our business strategy and our commitment to civic and charitable causes in the Greater Portland area."

"This alliance with the United Way of Greater Portland will be the Pirates' primary civic commitment. All of our due diligence kept pointing us in the direction of the United Way of Greater Portland as the cornerstone of our civic and charitable efforts.

"It's a premier organization and cause, with strong, committed leadership and integrity second to none. We're thrilled to be joining forces and look forward to combining our strengths to make an impact in the quality of life in Greater Portland for many years to come."

"We are thrilled about this partnership with the Portland Pirates," said Meg Baxter, President of the United Way of Greater Portland, at the time. "Through this alliance, the Pirates have proven their leadership, generosity and commitment to our community. They have opened their doors to us, giving United Way of Greater Portland a special opportunity to raise awareness about who we are and the services that are available to members of our community. We look forward to the many positive outcomes of this partnership."