What is the “American spirit?”
At the heart and soul of Battleship IOWA is a celebration of the American spirit. This past year, the very term has been called into question by some. Dr. Edwin Feulner, author of The American Spirit, writes: “Today, millions of Americans are not clear about why the United States is the greatest country on earth and in all human history. And that’s a shame.”
As Americans, we stand on the shoulders of those who sacrificed their lives to give us the freedoms we enjoy. Are there complexities to our history? Of course. Yet a core freedom we share today regardless of race or economic status is the ability to define and chart our own destiny. As Dr. Feulner states, “At any time, you can decide to change and do something completely different. Your life is yours to chart.”
At Battleship IOWA, we do not take our freedoms for granted. By charting our course to become the National Museum of the Surface Navy, we are indeed celebrating the American spirit.
Thank you for taking this journey with us!
Earlier this week, our President/CEO Jonathan Williams sent out an urgent plea as a result of state and county orders that forced us to close the museum again temporarily. We need to raise $68,000 and in true American spirit, many of you responded immediately. It’s hard to put our gratitude into words so we’ll just say thank you!
As a result of your response, we’re halfway to our goal. We still need to raise another $30,000 to get us through to January 13th. Here is a breakdown of the expenses we must cover:
- Maintenance & Operations team including part-time janitors: $11,600/mo or $387 per day.
- Volunteer: $7,100/mo or $237 per day.
- Museum & Curatorial: $3,800/mo or $127 per day.
- Tour & Ticketing: $7,900/mo or $263 per day.
- Security: $5,100/mo or $170 per day.
- Sales: $3,100/mo or $103 per day.
- IT / Technology: $9,500/ mo or $317 per day.
- Insurance to cover pollution, hull, liability, etc.: $7,000/mo or $233 per day.
- Power at reduced usage: $5,100/mo or $170 per day.
- Rent: $8,600/mo or $287 per day.
We have to raise $68,800 or $2,300 per day to cover the above costs until January 13th.
Please help us reach our goal by donating and most importantly, BY SHARING OUR GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN, OPERATION AMERICAN SPIRIT.
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Save the Date
Mark your calendar for Friday, December 18th, for a live (and lively) chat with our CEO Jonathan Williams and Chairman of the Board, Rear Admiral Mike Shatynski, USN (ret.) Hosted by radio personality Simon Conway, this is a chat you won’t want to miss. With Simon, you never know what question will pop!
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Final note – a gift you can keep or re-gift
You’ve given so much already this year. We’re not asking you to give more (unless you want to, of course). What we need you to do now is SHARE our campaign. GoFundMe is designed to be passed along and share your passion with others. Let your friends, families, and networks know why you believe Battleship IOWA is worth preserving. Passion draws people in and galvanizes action. That’s what we need right now.
We mentioned a gift you can keep or re-gift. We’ve got a PERK thanks to Kert VanderMeulen! Donate $100 or more and you get a copy of our Honoring The American Spirit DVD. It’s a fascinating and inspiring look at the monumental effort it took to transform USS Iowa from sad in Suisun Bay to shining star in Los Angeles. Links below to share!
DONATE TO OPERATION AMERICAN SPIRIT
DONATE TO BATTLESHIP IOWA MUSEUM
DONATE TO NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE SURFACE NAVY