Flagship Niagara - Don't Give Up the Ship!

The Flagship Niagara's very existence is in danger as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Historical and Museum Commission considers cutting funding for the sailing program, which will seriously jeopardize the affordability of the maintenance and upkeep of the vessel.

During this time of economic crisis, government funding will be diverted to what the public consider as the most important needs. It is not more government money we are seeking, it is local philanthropic support that the ship needs.

The ship has been in sucessful operation for 16 years. In 2005, the ship became inspected by the US Coast Guard as a Sailing School Vessel, a designation which allows the ship to earn revenue through an adventurous sail-training program.

Join our cause to keep history alive through preservation of Erie's most important icon and historic symbol- The Flagship Niagara!

The Flagship Niagara League is the 501 c3 non-profit organization that is chartered to support the ship. The FNL has established a "Don't Give Up the Ship" fund-raising campaign, which is the beneficiary of this cause. The PA Historical and Museum Commission has agreed to allow the ship to keep sailing if the FNL can generate substantial financial support for the ship and the ship's sailing program.

You can provide support in 3 ways.

1. Become a member of the Flagship Niagara League for a minimum contribution of $25. Go to www.brigniagara.org. On the new website, www.flagshipniagara.org, scheduled to launch by April 12, 2009, you can join online.

2. Donate to the Flagship Niagara Leage. Click the DONATE button on this cause page. You can enter your credit card information and receive a receipt for your donation (tax-deductible) via email.

3. Watch this video testimonial made by the ship's volunteers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9n82jR10c4 then post your own video response. When posting your response, tell the world that you believe in the Sail Training experience. Tell them you believe in the importance of preserving Niagara and her history. Tell them you believe that sailing the ship is the key to her survival and the key to representing Erie, Pennsylvania, and America's maritime heritage.

If you love the Flagship Niagara, if you love the ship's connection to Erie and want to see the ship continue to survive and succeed in representing Erie to hundreds of thousands of people, this is you one chance to truly be heard!

If this campaign is unsuccessful, PHMC WILL SHUT DOWN THE NIAGARA SAILING PROGRAM! We do not want another rotting static display like the old ship we remember up on stilts at the foot of State Street in Erie in the eighties.

The Flagship Niagara's volunteer crewmembers donate more than $100,000 worth of volunteer maintenance services to the ship each year. They are credited $17 for every hour of maintenance they donate, which is accrued in a tuition account, that is managed by the Flagship Niagara League, Inc. As their tuition account grows, they earn enough credit to sail on the ship as a student in the ship's education programs during the summer.

If the ship stops sailing, the volunteers will stop volunteering. It's as simple as that. The ship has represented Pennsylvania and Erie and interpreted the ship's famous history for more than 650,000 people since she first sailed out of Erie in 1992. Her sailing program has grown at a very successful rate of 25% per year since the ship became inspected as a Sailing School Vessel in 2005.

The program is now almost completely self-sufficient. If the PHMC will agree to maintain the ship as they were mandated to do, the FNL can maintain the sailing program through earned income alone.

This drive for FNL support will insure the survival of the ship for generations to come.

For more information on the ship & ship's sailing programs check out www.brigniagara.org

Don't Give Up The Ship!

1. Don't Give Up the Ship!