Goodbye Gerd

Our dear friend Fregattenkapitän GERD THÄTER (194-LIFE-1986) has also served well on our Advisory Board but his ten year term is also expired, and we thank him for his help, advice, and support among the U-Bootfahrer in Germany.

At right: At his U-466
At left: In the Bundsmarine

GERD is more than a Member SHARKHUNTERS and more than a Member of the Advisory Board – he is a dear friend.

Goodbye Professor

Professor TOM MACKIN (146-A-1985) has served well on our Advisory Board, but his ten years are now up and we thank TOM for all his help, advice and support over the 18 years he has been a Member and the ten years he served on the Advisory Board.

E-mail Off the Air

If you wonder why we have not answered your e-mail, it is because we were off the air, so to speak, in September. There were a few dozen e-mail messages on the computer waiting for our answer when something went goofy with the system – and all those e-mails disappeared into cyberspace.

So please don’t think we just ignored your e-mail; the cyberspace gremlins torpedoed us. thanks for your understanding.

501 (c) 3 to be in place in 2003

What is 501 (c) 3?

This is a certain type of tax status which allows our Members to deduct anything they donate to SHARKHUNTERS from their income tax or other types of taxes…....you would need to seek the advice of your tax specialist on this.

But in 2003, we will have our 501 (c) 3 Tax Exempt status! We already have the non-profit corporation/foundation in place, and it is known as: Sharkhunters International Submarine Research Foundation

Grant Writers

If you have experience at writing grant requests, please contact us as we intend to seek grants from various opportunities and need your assistance. Anyone with this kind of experience will be a valuable asset to our team.

Donations

If you are in a position with a company in which you have input into the budgetary plans, please consider putting in some money to be used as a donation to this Foundation. As you know, it will be tax deductible – again, check with your financial and tax specialists on the ‘hows’ and ’whys’, but please put some funds aside for these donations.

Private Donations

Donations from private individuals can also fit into this tax shelter but again, check with your tax specialist first.

In Your Will

If you indicate in your last will and testament that you wish certain items and/or money to go to SHARKHUNTERS when you begin your ‘Eternal Patrol’, there are tax benefits to be realized there, too. Again – ask your tax specialist.

Why are we doing this now?

SHARKHUNTERS has grown so big, has so many files, artifacts, displays and so forth that we must get bigger quarters. We need more staff, more equipment (such as a microfilm reader/copier) – and the list goes on and on.

We realize that our Members will help and we are deeply appreciative of that – but we want to make certain that our Members who do help, get some tax relief as well. There will be more on this as we go along, but this is a beginning.

Website Forum

Just a quick note from the EDITORS here – we have opened a Forum section on our website by which Members – and others, can ask questions and share their questions and concerns online. Go to our website and click on the ‘FORUM’ section, and follow the prompts. Let us know your thoughts about this section, please.