TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => General discussion => Topic started by: Ric Gillespie on August 07, 2013, 09:11:54 AM
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Last year's Niku VII expedition had a $2,000,000 budget. In the wake of the high-profile U.S. State Department event on March 20, 2012, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Discovery Communications, Timothy Mellon, and many TIGHAR members responded with generous contributions that brought in about $1,600,000. Trusting that the momentum would continue, we went ahead with the expedition - but, despite our best efforts, further significant sponsorship failed to materialize and we ended last year's Niku VII expedition nearly $400,000 in debt, most of it owed to the University of Hawaii for the charter of the expedition vessel KOK.
The TIGHAR Board of Directors unanimously agreed that retiring that debt was a pre-requisite to fundraising for the next major expedition. Although it was the honorable thing to do, that requirement presented a huge obstacle. Raising money for an upcoming expedition is hard enough. Raising money to pay off old debts is much more difficult. Over the past year we've paid along as we could and the university has been more than patient, but as of last week the debt still stood at more than $350,000.
Today the university will receive a check from TIGHAR for the full amount of the balance. I'm delighted to announce that the members of TIGHAR’s Board of Directors have made it possible for TIGHAR to retire the outstanding debt from last year’s Niku VII expedition. Their generosity, inspired in large part by the faith and support exhibited by the TIGHAR members on this Forum, allows us to move forward with planning and fundraising for Niku VIII.
The absurd Mellon suit is now the last remaining impediment to progress but we're not letting it slow us down and we're confident that we'll prevail - maybe sooner, maybe later - but the outcome is not in doubt. Because of you, TIGHAR is a far stronger and more resilient organization than our detractors imagine. Thank you.
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Wow, you have some good people on the Board of Directors, its great to hear that now we are looking ahead to the next expedition.
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What a wonderful vote of confidence for TIGHAR! Obviously, more than a few people see the whole Mellon lawsuit as being completely frivolous. Just goes to show that Mellon is obviously not the only person in the world with deep pockets!
I expect that by the end of the month we will either hear that this whole frivolous lawsuit has been thrown out or the whole world will be rattled with the news that Amelia Earhart's plane has amazingly already been discovered!
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I would like to personally thank the board members for their support and generosity. Would it be possible for you to release their names? In any case, TIGHAR board members: THANK YOU!
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I would like to personally thank the board members for their support and generosity. Would it be possible for you to release their names? In any case, TIGHAR board members: THANK YOU!
The names of the members of TIGHAR's Board of Directors (http://tighar.org/about.htm) are on the TIGHAR website. All of them are incredibly dedicated and generous but not all are in a financial position to be this heroic. The ones who are are not looking for individual recognition.
Let me take this opportunity to say that the TIGHAR Board is the finest group of individuals it has ever been my pleasure to serve.
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Bravo!
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What a noble, magnanimous gesture--emblematic of the culture of good faith and integrity at TIGHAR. From one small member I offer one huge thanks!
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Let me take this opportunity to say that the TIGHAR Board is the finest group of individuals it has ever been my pleasure to serve.
HEAR, HEAR! And, if I might, TIGHAR is one of the very finest groups it has ever been my pleasure to be a humble member.
I suspect I'm not alone . . .
LTM, whom I suspect would be nodding her head.
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Incredibly good news.
I will send another $100 to start building for the next trip.
And then I will repeat that as many times as my finances allow.
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Big Thanks To The Tighar Board
It is nice to see and know, That the board are as dedicated to running the organisation as us members are of researching on behalf of Tighar.
It is a pleasure to be part of a group, That will no doubt go down in history as being credited with the discovery of Amelia Earhart's final destination whether that be Niku or some were else, And many more aviation mystery's
Thank's Richie
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Thank you TIGHAR Board of Directors! :)
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This is incredibly good news. Thanks to the amazing generosity of the Board Members! It is a testament, I think, to the organization. Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of good things, including throwing out the lawsuit, and more donors stepping up.
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Overwhelming! Simply overwhelming! Especially to one who would love to, but can not do more to help financially at this time.
But keep up the membership drives. This organization could be reaching it's critical mass level. Sometimes even questionable PR is still PR, especially when it turns out in your favor...as this one later this month most likely will.
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What a beautiful and generous thing to do. A wonderful breath of fresh air.
Thank you Board of Directors for your dedication.
Bob Harmon
TIGHAR #4294R
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Great big thanks to the Tighar Board. With things going this well providence must be smiling on us and we have got to be successful
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Ric
Kudos to the Board
Now, hopefully, a major objective of the expedition will be to grasp an interesting piece of debris from the field, place it in a container (Basket?), raise it to the surface along with the ROV, and examine it livetime. It's time to stop looking at pictures and start looking at and analyzing objects!