In the effort we mentioned yesterday to revitalize the SS United States, an anonymous donor had put up a $300,000 matching grant to spur fundraising and help restore the ship to its former glory. The local philanthropist turns out to beH.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, of The Lenfest Foundation, who has stated he wants to donate all of his wealth to worthy causes before he dies. According to his Wikipedia page, he was the head of the major communications company started by Walter Annenberg, which he sold in 2000 to Comcast for $6.7 billion. The Lenfest Foundation also provides scholarships for High School Juniors from rural Western PA, maintains the Lenfest Ocean Program, and recently awarded the PA Ballet a $500,000 matching grant to aid their fundraising efforts. We say: H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, we think you are the bee’s knees.

Previously: SS United States A Little Closer To Being Saved!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 4:15 pm.