Celebrating Our Heritage and Heroes
As we reflect on this past year, we have much to be thankful for here at the Museum of Aviation. Many strides have been made in working towards becoming a world-class museum and educational enterprise. We have so much to be proud of and even more to be excited about.
This past year we welcomed more than 558,000 visitors through our doors to admire our superior aviation collection and attend our leading edge Science, Technology, Engineering and Math based educational programs at our newly trademarked National STEM Academyâ„¢.
Great progress has been made in making the museum a place of wonder and excitement for our young visitors. We introduced our new “Barry the B-17” mascot, are nearing the completion of an outdoor pavilion/educational classroom and have added a Kids Zone play area outside of our education center complete with a NASA Interactive Space Station.
We continue to enhance numerous partnerships with Veteran Service Organizations throughout the nation. We have the honor of teaming with Paralyzed Veterans of America for a second year for a hand-cycling race during our annual Boston-Qualifying Marathon. Events like these ensure all healing veterans feel welcome and included in all our activities.
And finally, in reinforcing our aggressive efforts in tourism development, we have partnered with Pulseworks to bring a new Virtual Reality Simulator to the museum. Visitors can now travel to the International Space Station or go on an underwater prehistoric adventure- only leaving the museum in their mind.
No institution can achieve such progress on its own. It is our friends, like you, that lay the foundation of growth and transformation by providing the tools needed to succeed.
It is in this spirit that I ask you to make a gift to the Annual Fund. Special event and program income only represents 35% of the income necessary to sustain operations and fund our important educational efforts. Whether it is buying a replacement part for a B-17 undergoing restoration, or providing updated equipment for our National STEM Academy™ – all Annual Fund gifts, single or multi-year, are significant contributions to the quality of our education programs and most importantly, our Museum.
Please know that you are not only an important part of our past, but vital to our success in the future!