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Opportunities for Philanthropy

If you've recently won a big lottery, or otherwise have wealth to give away, here are some possibilities for putting that money to good use in the world of bells, brightening the auditory environment for everyone nearby.  Projects listed in geographic regions are associated with existing tower bell installations, and are linked to the relevant site data page on this Website.  Projects listed in the General category are less well defined, and will require more investigation on your part.

• North America
  • Fund the restoration of traditional action (possibly including a new baton keyboard) for any of the several degraded instruments.
  • Fund the design and construction of a keyboard, transmission and playing cabin for what is presently a 48-bell non-traditional carillon in the McFarland Memorial Bell Tower at the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.
  • Fund the design and installation of a single-passenger elevator for Crean Tower, Christ Cathedral (formerly The Crystal Cathedral), from the ground to the first concrete floor, without significantly marring the integrity of the tower design.
  • Fund the addition of an elevator to the World War II Memorial Tower at the University of Kansas.  The northeast corner of the tower holds an empty elevator shaft.
  • Fund the addition of an elevator to Century Tower at the University of Florida.  The northwest corner of that tower holds an empty elevator shaft.
  • Fund the renovation of the Durfee tubular chime in the chapel of Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, as well as training for chimers there.
  • Fund the design and construction of a tower for the chime formerly in St.Lawrence Martyr RC Church, New Bedford, MA, and for installation of the stored bells in it.
  • Fund the design and construction of a keyboard and transmission for the chime in Arlington Street Church, Boston, MA, which presently has only a primitive taut-rope rack.
  • Fund the complete cataloging of the Meneely/Watervliet papers that are held in the New York State Archives in Albany, with special attention to compiling an index of bells produced.
  • Fund the transcription of the McShane foundry records held in a library somewhere in Baltimore, Maryland.
• South America
• Europe
• Africa and the Middle East
• Asia and the Pacific rim
• General
  • Find an empty bell tower in your home town, or in a place you love to visit, and fill it with an appropriate set of bells, preferably with mechanical action from a traditional baton keyboard.
  • Find a carillon, chime, peal or single bell that needs to be restored, and fund that work with a reputable company.
  • Fund the exploration of existing bell towers in a town, city or county of your choice, to build an inventory of surviving bells (and associated tower clocks when present), paying special attention to the industrial archaelogy of each tower for evidence of historical technology in the original installation and any subsequent modifications.

If you have an idea for a project that could be added to this list, please write using the email link below.

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This page was created on 2014/03/05 and last revised 2024/12/02.

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