With the YMCA no longer coming to Scarborough, the money already raised and spent is being offered back to the donors, something that could put the YMCA in a financial tough spot.

According to Cyrus Hagge, president of the YMCA board of directors, the YMCA spent more than it actually raised. Though $1 million was donated, only about $300,000 of that was cash. The rest, said Hagge, consisted of pledges that would have been given over a number of years.

“It reached a point where it could have been financial ruin for the Y if we had kept going,” said Hagge. “It will take us a number of years to work our way out of this deficit. After seeing the YWCA close, we’re just terrified something could happen to the YMCA.”

After three years of planning, on Sept. 1 the Cumberland County YMCA announced its failure to raise the $9 million required to build and sustain a new YMCA in Scarborough. According to YMCA officials, the big donations needed to keep the project going were not coming in.

On Thursday, Sept. 14, the YMCA will have a meeting at the Bessey School in Scarborough to thank volunteers and discuss the project, said Helen Brena the executive director of the YMCA. The hope, said Brena, is to extend the YMCA’s appreciation and to provide some closure.

At least one major donor will ask for its donation to be returned. According to Hannaford Bros. spokeswoman Caren Epstein, the Scarborough based supermarket chain is looking for the $300,000 it donated to the Scarborough YMCA campaign.

“We’re disappointed that it didn’t work out. It could have been a great addition to Scarborough,” said Epstein. “Our expectation is that given /////the project was canceled, they would send that money back”

One option donors have is to allow the YMCA to put their money into other projects, such as the renovations to the Freeport YMCA. According to Epstein, Hannaford’s donation was earmarked only for the Scarborough project.

Though both Hagge and Brena said the YMCA is in no danger of closing or being unable to pay back the donors, according to Hagge, any more time spent trying to raise money could have put the YMCA in danger.

Of the $1 million in donations, about $358,000 was cash, said Hagge. During the planning, about $600,000 was spent on expenses like architects, land, surveying and staff.

If all donors wanted their money back, said Hagge, that would leave about $250,000 for the YMCA to come up with and refund.

“It’s not like the YMCA made a lot of money and ran,” said Hagge. “This was just a heartbreaker.”

Scarborough resident Christy Hammer was also frustrated that more fundraising wasn’t tried before the YMCA decided not to come to Scarborough.

“To me, the fundraising hadn’t even begun,” said Hammer. An option, she said, would have been to send out a town-wide letter asking for donations and letting people know the alternative was no YMCA.

When Hammer and her family moved here three years ago, she said, one of the draws was the potential of a YMCA in town.

“We’re two middle class professor’s salaries, but we’d give $100 now knowing what was going on,” said Hammer. “That’s a lot for us, but we’d do it in a heartbeat.” A small donation from every family, said Hammer, is a significant amount of money.

Scarborough resident Gwen Simons was a volunteer on the committee that decided which programs the YMCA would offer. According to Simons, the project cancellation came as a shock.

“It just came as a surprise to us,” said Simons. “Our committee was fairly active right up until that point. We were very interested in having the Y here, especially for our kids. The Y would have been the icing on the cake for Scarborough.”

According to Hagge, the money they needed just wasn’t coming at a fast enough rate despite volunteers’ best efforts.

“Weeks would go by without a new dollar coming in,” said Hagge. “No one wanted to be that lead donor. I can’t tell you how many doors we knocked on.”

Hagge added that though everything pointed to a successful campaign, for unknown reasons the money wasn’t coming in.

“It was very difficult to raise money in Scarborough,” said Hagge. “There really wasn’t time to get everyone in a room and tell them what was going on,” he added. “We just had to act.”

According to Hagge, stopping the project last winter would have been the sensible thing to do. However, he said, after finding the new site on Route 1, the YMCA thought that might create more excitement for the Scarborough campaign.