Like many things in Galveston, the flight museum was very badly damaged by hurricane Ike. Most of the flyable airplanes were flown out before the storm and critical museum records were saved, but the buildings and many of the tools, supplies, artifacts, and pieces of equipment were badly damaged or destroyed.
The museum is doing its best to recover, but as a non-profit organization it faces a very tough challenge and needs all the help it can get. Monetary donations are invaluable, as are donations of replacement equipment and tools, particularly specialized tools for maintaining older airplanes. What is needed most of all though is volunteer labor. The museum has a small professional staff, but even under normal circumstances must augment this with a large volunteer corps. Due to the huge amount of work necessary to rebuild the museum, volunteers are in even greater demand now. It is rewarding and educational work of benefit to the local community and the nation as well as a lot of fun.
Recovery efforts are ongoing 8 - 5, Monday through Saturday (except this weekend) and no particular skill or training is needed to get started. Just show up at the museum if you want to help.
Here are some links to pictures that I have taken of the recovery effort over the past few weeks:
Some of the airplanes that were evacuated will be coming home for the Wings Over Houston air show this weekend. If you are interested, it would be another great opportunity to meet folks from the museum and find out how you can help.
(Of course, I will be glad to help you get involved as well.)
thanks,
Jeff Hagen
2 comments:
I have a friend who id deep into airplanes worldwide. I sent him your blog and this is part of his response:
Have received a lot of e-mail on the impact of the hurricane on the
LSFM. As I believe you are aware, I was on the board of directors
there for two years. Many folks think I'm still connected to the
museum (I am not), so they send me news and updates with some
regularity.
Though I'm sympathetic to their loss, I am not sympathetic to their
call for money. Bobbie Waltrip is the kingpin behind the museum and
he's worth hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions). As the
CEO of SCI (Service Corporation International), he either owns or has
control of over 3,000 funeral homes around the world. He's not hard-
up for cash, no matter what anyone might tell you. If he wanted, he
could single-handedly rebuild the LSFM and never blink an eye. It's
all a matter of priorities for him. And let me not forget to mention
that many of his best friends (some of whom served on the board with
me) are - or were - some of the wealthiest people in not only Texas,
but the nation. Included on this list are Oscar Wyatt (now in jail
for fraud), Ben Love (though deceased, his influence as a board
member continues), Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (ditto), and Tom Landry (ditto
twice) - to name just a few.
Anyway, Bobbie doesn't need your money or mine to rebuild that museum.
......
I will let you decide for yourselves.
Charlie,
Robert Waltrip may have founded the museum, but he does not own it. It is a non-profit organization that does its best to be self supporting. I have been a volunteer there for 15 years and in all that time it has been very evident that they operate on a shoe-string budget just like any other non-profit. I am not privy to the inner workings of the board as your friend is, but I can tell you that the museum is a valuable resource that benefits the entire community and as such, in my opinion, is worthy of support from the entire community. It is not an individual's personal toy as implied by your friend's comments. Don't let the famous names on the board fool you either; many non-profits try to load up their boards with famous folks, but that does not mean the money flows freely.
Regardless of how one feels about funding, I can tell you from personal experience that the even more critical issue is manpower. The museum functions largely with donated hours of labor and is in particular need of volunteer time to help recover from Ike.
Jeff
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