Behind most major individual philanthropic efforts is a story of individual achievement providing the resources to conduct major philanthropy and a personal history from which the compassion to help grows.
The story of the saving and restoration of the great ship, the SS United States, from the Philanthropy Roundtable is such a story.
An excerpt.
“She was once the fastest ship in the world, the pride of the United States. She held the trans-Atlantic speed record, re-taking it from a British vessel. “She’s the first, first lady of the sea,” went the song composed before her maiden voyage. And there she sat, barnacling in Philadelphia’s harbor. Her paint peeling and faded, her name lined with rust: United States.
“Some called her a relic. An ocean liner built at the cusp of the jet age; a hulking heap whose repair would cost more than her worth. She was bound for the scrap yard.
“That’s when Gerry Lenfest intervened. Barely a day before bids from scrappers were due, and without even seeing the ship first, he made a $5.8 million pledge to purchase and bring new life to the SS United States.
“She is worth saving,” he explains. It’s a simple but telling statement. It reveals a profound sense of history, a deep sympathy for the underdog, and a healthy appetite for risk.
“In other words, it reveals a lot about Gerry Lenfest.
“From Seventeen to Seven Billion
“H. F. (“Gerry”) Lenfest is used to sudden, abrupt changes—which may help explain his willingness to take bold, decisive action. When he was 13 years old, his father uprooted the family from their suburban home in Scarsdale, New York. Lenfest suddenly found himself on a working farm in Lambertville, on the New Jersey–Pennsylvania border. “Milking the cows and most other chores fell to me,” Lenfest would later explain. “Working on a farm was not my dream.” Not long thereafter, his mother died.
“Lenfest was devastated. Her cerebral hemorrhage was unexpected. His twin sister was sent to a boarding school, and his father was frequently away on business. (He was a naval engineer who worked in Lower Manhattan, with a 60-mile daily commute.) Unsurprisingly, Lenfest’s grades suffered. He struggled academically, drifting from school to school. Only once his father secured him a place at Mercersburg Academy was he able to correct course.”
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.