Elmo Pickerill, Chief Radio Officer on the SS Leviathan. Pickerill Collection, SSHSA Archives.

Full Ahead! Campaign completion!!  The campaign has come to a close, but our work continues to fund the initiatives of the program.  We continue to receive ongoing pledge fulfillments, bequests from the FellowShip League and other contributions.

Long-time strategic funding partner, the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh awarded SSHSA with an incentive challenge – raise another $100,000 and we’ll match it with another $100,000.  

On November 5th, just over eight months from the Challenge issue date, 120 donors supported the Posner Challenge unlocking another $250,000 to support Full Ahead! Initiatives. Thank you for your support!

SSHSA and the Full Ahead! campaign received a motivating boost to its most recent fundraising initiative. Long-time strategic funding partner, the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh awarded SSHSA with an incentive challenge – raise another $250,000 and we’ll match it with another $250,000.  The challenge was met thanks to the contributions of our members!  Thank you!

 “The Champlin Foundation is pleased to provide grant funding to the Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA) to help this important institution advance its vital mission. Champlin Foundation grants are awarded on a competitive basis and our grant to SSHSA is a reflection of our confidence in the organization’s ability to improve the lives of Rhode Islanders in significant ways.”

The Champlin Foundation is supporting Full Ahead! with a grant toward the purchase of the Ship History Center. These funds will be used for debt reduction.

The FellowShip League is SSHSA’s planned giving society. Members are those who have made a gifts to SSHSA in their will, named SSHSA as a beneficiary on the life insurance or retirement plans or any other type of future planned gift. CAPT Robert F. Wasson, Jr., CPA spent his entire career on the sea (with the exception of the two years he devoted to an accounting firm to receive his CPA credential). The 10-year member choose SSHSA and the Full Ahead! campaign as the sole beneficiary of his estate.

“Karen and I are delighted to be able to pitch in to the SSHSA ’cause’. It is a unique and noble one and we hope the strategic initiatives you are pursuing yield great results for the organization.” – Mike Fisher

After renting the building at 2500 Post Road in Warwick, the organization finalized the purchase of the Ship History Center. Read more about the acquisition here.