The National Park Service and the Royal Netherlands Embassy have teamed up to restore and upgrade the Netherlands Carillon, a musical beacon of friendship between the Netherlands and the United States.
And you can help!
The project is estimated to cost $5.8 million. The National Park Service has committed at least $4 million to restore the structure that houses the bells.
Fundraising in the US
The Royal Netherlands Embassy, with the help of The Netherland-America Foundation, aims to raise an additional $1.2 million from the private sector to restore the Carillon’s chimes, its operating system, and the surroundings of the monument.
The fundraising effort will also pay to add three bells to make the monument a Grand Carillon, create an educational curriculum to familiarize visiting Americans with the historical significance of the Carillon, and cover future repairs.
Three companies have already pledged a combined $250,000 for this project:
- Royal Dutch Shell ($100,000)
- Aegon/Transamerica Foundation ($100,000)
- Eenhoorn LLC ($50,000)
Fundraising in the Netherlands
In addition to fundraising efforts in the United States, the embassy will also support fundraising by the Singing Bronze Foundation in the Netherlands. Under the auspices of the Netherlands Carillon Advisory Committee, the Singing Bronze Foundation aims to raise $600,000 from the private sector in the Netherlands.
This money will go toward a dedicated Netherlands Carillon exposition at Klok & Peel Museum in Asten (Noord-Brabant Province, the Netherlands), the publication of a book on the Carillon, and the future use of the instrument and guest performances.
A gift of gratitude
The people of the Netherlands gave the Carillon to the people of the United States in 1954 to thank America for liberating the Netherlands during World War II and helping rebuild the Dutch economy through the Marshall Plan.
The Carillon and its 50 bells symbolize the friendship between the two nations, which share a common history and values, including a dedication to democracy, entrepreneurship, and the freedom of speech and religion.
The Carillon was last restored in the mid-1990s, but time has since taken its toll.
The Netherlands Carillon is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in the Washington, D.C. area, one of the more than 400 parks and properties maintained by the National Park Service.
How can I help?
If you would like to help the fundraising for this project, click the button below to donate through The Netherland-America Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City.
“We want to continue telling the story of the friendship between our two nations for generations to come,” said Dutch Ambassador to the US Henne Schuwer. “The Carillon is a wonderful centerpiece around which we can tell that story.”
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