[FAC] The Fresno Met Museum Needs Your Help!

[John English]

Dear Friend of the Museum:

 

On December 17, 2008 the State of California froze payments on all
resource bond projects and issued a stop work notice.  The length of
this freeze is undetermined and is tied to current budget negotiations
between the legislature and the Governor.

In addition to impacting several major projects throughout the State of
California, the freezing of payments also directly impacts the Fresno
Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science <http://fresnomet.org/> . 

In 2006 the Fresno Met was awarded a 2.5 million dollar matching grant
from the California Cultural and Historic Endowment to fund the
restoration of its 1922 facility, these funds are included in those
frozen by the State of California and places an undue burden on the
Fresno Met.  The grant is a reimbursable grant, meaning that the bills
have been paid by the Museum which now relies on the State's payment of
invoices for expenses previously incurred in order to maintain
sufficient cash flow for the organization.  To date the Fresno
Metropolitan Museum has paid over $1 million in expenses to the projects
contractors that we now sit waiting to be reimbursed by the State of
California.

We are asking for your help to recall the decision to freeze State bond
funding.  You can help by:

*          Signing on to a petition at
http://thepetitionsite.com/1/get-us-back-to-work-recall-the-pmia-decisio
n-now

*         Calling your local legislators and urge them to work with the
Governor and solve the budget crisis.

*          If possible, making an extra donation to the Fresno
Metropolitan Museum of Art + Science to cover the shortfall.  You can
make a donation by clicking here
<http://fresnomet.org/store2/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=4> .  Your
donations are deeply appreciated.

For more information about the situation please visit
http://stopworkimpact.ning.com/.

Sincerely,

Dana L. Thorpe
Executive Director
Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art + Science
1555 Van Ness
Fresno, California 93721

 

 

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