What We Do
Mission
The Hatch Community Youth Fund ensures that children who are permanent residents of Brooksville, Castine, and Penobscot, Maine can participate fully in sports and recreational activities, regardless of financial circumstance.
Vision
Every child pre-school through high school residing permanently in these socially and historically linked rural coastal Maine communities has consistent access to organized and mentored sports and recreational activities, creating opportunities for connection, growth, and belonging across the seasons.
Impact
By removing financial barriers to participation, HCYF supports early and sustained engagement in activities that strengthen physical health, confidence, resilience, and social connection—benefits that extend into adulthood and contribute to the vitality of the broader community.
Our Story
The Hatch Community Youth Fund is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code named in honor of Francis W. Hatch & Harold B. Hatch. Though unrelated, both men were long-time, active members of our community and cared deeply about the flourishing of its many and diverse members, especially the children! They understood before such intuitions were backed by research that regular participation in physical activity supports physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive development, while reducing the risk of depression and social isolation.
Poignancy
“The benefits for youth who engage in regular physical activity are clear: they have improved bone health, weight status, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, cardiometabolic health, and cognitive function and a reduced risk of depression.”
Urgency
“We are embodied creatures; children should learn how to manage their bodies in the physical world before they start spending large amounts of time in the virtual world.”
—Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness