THE BEGINNING – HISTORY

The Eagle Promise Charitable Fund is an outgrowth of a dream of track coach, Dan Comer, some members of the Hedgesville High School boosters club, members of the school’s administration and team parents of the boys’ and girls’ track and soccer teams. This loosely organized group grew to include others as the need to build a Track and Soccer Complex for the Hedgesville High School and the Hedgesville School district became apparent. The dream of having a track and soccer complex began and grew with a base group of boosters, parents, school administrators, and alumni athlete parents who continue to have a vision. The core group of volunteers during this time included Dan Comer, HHS Track Coach, Joe Comer, Fred Kerns, and Pat Reeser. They started by staging a number of fund raisers which included basket bingo and chicken barbeques. Through this core group’s efforts more than $17,000 had been raised over a five year period. From these humble beginnings the Executive Committee of the Track and Soccer Complex judiciously used a portion of the $17,000 to hire a surveying company to survey the land given to the group by the Board of Education and by hiring Paige Design Group in 2004. 

In the spring 2004 the committee was expanded to include others who had experiences that would be beneficial to the committee as it moved toward their dream of building a Track and Soccer Complex. This included the addition of Mike Braswell and Terry Mallett to the committee. Mr. Braswell, the parent of a former track athlete, managed a not-for-profit agency in the Baltimore area. Mr. Mallett became a volunteer committee member to this project through an introduction of mutual friends on the committee. Mr. Mallett’s background includes varied experiences.  He was a teacher, assistant professor, and coach (high school and college), college administrator, and development officer at Cornell University. He established and headed up the Robert Trent Jones Foundation before its dissolution and formed Mallett and Associates, Inc. a consulting company whose business includes fund raising consulting. Terry and his wife Linda retired to The Woods, a golf course community in Hedgesville, WV, in June, 2000. Mr. Mallett has been involved with this project since the beginning of March, 2004.

The Inaugural Eagle Promise Golf Outing was established and held in 2005. The Second Annual Eagle Promise Golf Outing was held in August of 2006. The net proceeds from both of these golf outings have been applied toward the initiative to build a Track and Soccer Complex at HHS.

We, the Track and Soccer Complex Committee, had investigated both the establishment of our own Charitable Foundation or Charitable Fund 501 (c) (3) and also met with the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation about being a member of the community foundation. This was an outgrowth of our overall goal and mission beyond just the building of a Track and Soccer Complex. After many meetings with the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, the Executive Committee, of the Track and Soccer Complex, decided it was in committee’s best interests to form our own Charitable Fund in early 2006. The application process to form our own Charitable Fund began in the spring of 2006. The Eagle Promise Charitable Fund, Inc. received its final approval from the IRS to become a 501 (c) (3) in August, 2006.

The EPCF and its Board of Directors as of January 2009 have changed both their direction and focus on special projects. The EPCF Board of Directors, after much deliberation, has made the decision to redirect all fund raising efforts for both current and future special projects it will be supporting going forward. Please read the complete EPCF Status Report 2009 under the heading OUR ACTIVITIES for an EPCF UPDATE. It will explain in detail both the background behind the decisions for the EPCF moving forward in a new direction, the future projects the EPCF/EPGO will support going forward and how past funds raised from the Eagle Promise Golf Outing (EPGO) have been allocated.

See the mission and value statements of The Eagle Promise Charitable Fund, Inc.