ASSOCIATION

Organization

 

The "Association" was founded on January 20, 2011 as a "Not for Profit Corporation" in the State of Florida. On March 21,2011, The Association was granted Tax Exempt status under Section 501(c) (7) of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

It is very important to understand that while the Association is a 501(c) (7) Not for Profit corporation,  it is not a "Not for Profit Charitable" corporation under Section 501(c) (3), e.g., United Way.

As such, the Association can accept donations but they are not tax deductible for the donor.

 

Purpose

     A. To provide social and recreational activities, e.g., reunions, for those who served on the Beale between the years of 1942 and 1968, and/or their spouse(s), widows, ancestors or lineal descendants

     B. To honor the memory of those who served on the Beale

     C. To preserve the memory of historical events occurring on the Beale between the years 1942 and 1968

 

Benefits

     A. Having a "tax number" enables us to establish accounts under the Beale Association's name, e.g., checking

     B. Financial visibility and accountability

     C. The ability to execute contracts under the Association's name, e.g., reunion related activities

     D. The ability to purchase short term liability insurance for our events

    

Activities

 

Reunions

The Association sponsors Reunions for our "Shipmates" and guests where all can renew old acquaintances, make new friends and reminisce about "all things Beale" It is also a time for raffles and an auction to raise funds for future events and other Association expenses. Reunions were first held in 1976 and the objective is continue having Reunions until the last man is standing".

 

Data base

The Association maintains a data base of Beale veterans, their spouse(s), widows, ancestors, lineal descendants, Reunion guests and other "friends" of the Beale. It contains about 600 names with contact information for about 200. This is far short of the estimated 5,000 men who served on the Beale. It is hoped this website will assist us in locating missing members of the crew. The database is used to send Reunion and other Beale related information to the crew Almost all communciations is via email. In addition, we have a short list of "US MAIL" only shipmates, i.e., those not having email capability.

 

Website

This is the third USS Beale website. The first was developed and maintained by Jerry Stucky BM3 (1959-1961) who passed away in 2008., The second has been maintained by Dave Achs SM3 (1960-1962) who can no longer maintain the site because of health issues. This third website, developed by Bob Duke and Paul Barry, will incorporate most of the contents of the older websites and anything new that may be of interest to the crew. Its purpose is, as our incorporation documents state, to honor the memory of those who served on the Beale and to preserve the memory of historical events occurring on the Beale between the years 1942 and 1968. The website will be searchable/reachable via the various internet search engines such as Google and Bing. This will provide greater visibility and may generate sufficient interest to locate the missing members of the crew.

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Financial Reports

In order to provide visibility of and accountability for the Association's accounts, beginning with the 2016 records, financial reports are being published on the website. This method replaces email and physical distribution at the reunions.