The Fountain Hills High School Athletic Booster Club is up and running for another year of supporting local sports and, according to new president, Dr. Steve Feyrer-Melk, 2014-15 looks to be one of the biggest years yet.

The FHHSABC has been around for quite a while, but for those who are unfamiliar with the organization, a quick look at its statement of purpose and intent should help clear things up.

“The FHHSABC is an advisory club formed for the purpose of assisting FHHS in furthering the cause of student-athletes at FHHS,” reads the statement. These goals include “financially supporting, promoting and enhancing” students and the athletic activities they participate in.

In the past, the Booster Club has helped fund certified athletic trainer services for local athletics, as well as fund the team roster cards at home games and weight room renovations.

The FHHSABC is also responsible for organizing the annual homecoming parade (today at 5 p.m. on Avenue of the Fountains) and has also offered to take part in the recently proposed renovations for the Falcon travel bus.

The new Hudl video sharing subscriptions and HD cameras for FHHS teams were a project of the Booster Club, as were the trophy case expansions and lighting, the gymnasium sound system and the field press box and sound system renovations.

According to Feyrer-Melk, the goal of the organization is to support as many different student athlete groups as possible with each of its projects, creating a more robust program in Fountain Hills.

“I’ve been in this district a while now,” Feyrer-Melk said. “I’ve got two seniors, a freshman and a seventh grader coming up. The last three years, I knew the Booster Club was out there, but I didn’t really pay attention to what it was doing until I started asking people about it.”

Feyrer-Melk said that’s a common situation for many local parents, knowing about the program but not knowing how they could get involved.

The club meets the second Monday of every month in the high school front office but, according to Feyrer-Melk, participants don’t need to worry about being completely entrenched in the organization’s events.

More information can be found under the “Boosters” tab at falconathletics.com but, for the most part, he said the average member becomes part of a support network for local student-athletes.

Membership to the FHHSABC is $20 and includes a Falcons Booster T-shirt.

“We don’t focus on one specific sport,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be just financial support, either. Parents can get together and help a specific team, promote our games to the community or just attend the games and cheer on the kids.”

Unlike most Arizona school districts, FHHS’s athletic department is entirely self-funded. Since resources for facility and equipment improvements are tough to come by, the Booster Club tries to step in and offer support whenever possible.

“Our membership supports the athletic program in multiple ways,” Feyrer-Melk said.

“Being a member of the Booster Club doesn’t mean you need to volunteer a whole bunch of time or money. There are other ways to contribute. Going to games that maybe you don’t have a kid on the team is a big help. You probably know someone on the team you can cheer for and that’s just one of the many ways to get involved.”

Feyrer-Melk said he can’t praise the community support enough, as Fountain Hills clubs, businesses and residents are always ready to offer a helping hand to organize and fund the various projects.

“A lot of people worry that they don’t have enough time to be a part of the Booster Club, but my response to that is that we’re not going to ask you to do anything that you’re not interested in,” Feyrer-Melk said.

“We may send out an email [explaining our current project] and ask if you are interested or know someone else who is interested, and that would be great. If you don’t have the time, you don’t have the time.”

Feyrer-Melk said that the Boosters would love to see every local parent, especially those of student-athletes, involved with the organization.

“Our goal is to keep everyone well informed, organized and we also represent their common interests to our athletic department,” he added.

“The second part is the average community member. We have so many local businesses and residents who support our various projects, and we couldn’t do it without them. It’s really a community effort and it supports our amazing student-athletes.

“Our kids are only in high school for a short period of time. For a lot of them, these sports and sporting events are going to be some of their best high school memories, and the Boosters give everyone a chance to be a part of that.”