IOWA Family:
We start off this week continuing our preparation for an eventual “social distancing” reopen. As a primarily outdoor museum, we are in a unique position to modify our tour products to reduce capacity, eliminate areas of potential congestion, disinfect all commonly touched areas, virtual working for those able, and require masks upon entry. We are hopeful that our local officials will accept this plan and allow us to reopen with other outdoor recreation areas such as parks, when the time comes.
Thanks to our generous donors and supporters, we have received critical funding to continue paying our currently reduced workforce and bring back some of the programming based employees for at least a couple of months. We are hoping that we are able to reopen no later than the middle of June with the social distanced outdoor product and continue to slowly increase our earned revenue. If we are unable to open by no later than the end of June or raise additional capital by that point, there is no doubt that staffing levels and the organization will be negatively affected. Please consider continuing to support our organization with contributions of any amount at https://pacificbattleship.com/donate or you can mail a check to Battleship IOWA, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro, CA 90731.
I was honored to join the April 19th Memorial Service via Facebook live on Sunday morning. David Canfield, Marann Fengler, and the rest of the team did a phenomenal job putting this simple but powerful service together. Thank you to the Battleship IOWA Crew and the USNS Mercy Beach Det. Crew for showing your support. The tragic accident on April 19, 1989 has forever altered the DNA of the ship and museum, and we are committed to ensuring that we remember the sailors lost and the lives tremendously affected daily in our work. This is the foundation of our Veterans Programming that we offer today.
The limited staff has been adjusting to working virtually over the past several weeks. We are actively using Zoom and Google Meets to ensure that we maintain social contact. The entire team has been focused on supporting our development and programming efforts. Our Education team is performing virtual lessons, the Veterans team is working on resources and outreach, the Community team handed out masks to local seniors, the Operations team is working on the fantail, and the Security team continues to show up in force on a daily basis. I am proud to be a small part of this incredible family that rallies to support each other during the toughest times.
There are a lot of struggling organizations and people that need your support during this crisis, so please consider supporting a charity of your choice – whether it is our organization or not.
We wish you a safe and blessed week!
Jonathan Williams, President & CEO
Battleship IOWA Museum
https://staging-pacificbattleship-staging.kinsta.cloud