Help us preserve the Czech Settler's Heritage

and help keep the Czech Emigration Museum open

give a tax-deductible donation to Czech Friends

Below is a more extensive explanation what your money will do to help preserve the heritage of the Czech immigrants in America and in their old home country.

However, if you are already sure that you want to help with an on-line donation, please click the donation button below. Clicking the button will bring you to the secure site of PayPal, which handles the on-line payments for us. Include your address and email as shipping address so we can send you confirmation of your tax-deductible donation.

Beware: you do NOT need a PayPal account; the PayPal site also accepts credit cards.

If you do not want to donate online but through writing a check, giving goods, or make a direct electronic transfer (internet banking) to our bank, please look for details below or contact our staff. All donations are tax-deductible.

Our 10th anniversary wish list

Cold War Exhibition

truck The dump truck is given to the museum. We need to cover the costs for restoration and for the transport to the Czech Republic. If funds allow, we will also install the Troop Carrier Kit and Fording Kit to make the truck really original and is functionality maximal. Documentation and making displays need to be taken care of as well.

Travel to America exhibition

We envision to make the cellars of the school accessible for visitors and install the on travel across the ocean there. The cellars are damp and cold, a suitable atmosphere to display the hardship of ocean travel on unreliable ships.

Peat Museum and Railroad

We are planning a new separate exhibition on the use of peat in the area. Highlight will be the 3-mile long small-gauge peat railroad.

peat wagon unrestored wagons

One down, 16 to go. Wagons used to transport peat. Some of them will remain original, others will be remodeled to carry people and bicycles

Preserving farming equipment

Several donated farming tools and machinery need urgent maintenance: they have to be sand-blasted, preserved, and/or painted.

And so much more

Like standard operating costs, outside repaint job for the museum, additional summer staff, etc, etc.

Other ways of donating

Online- or Internet Banking.

If you have Internet Banking, this is the safest, quickest, and cheapest option for you and us when donating larger amounts.

Please transfer the funds to:
Citizens State Bank Wyoming, Oxford Junction branch
Bank number: 073907952 - 91333509
The first part is the routing #, the second part the account #

The account holder is the Friends of the Rozmberk Society Inc.

Personal check, the traditional and tested way.

Please made payable to:
Marlene Flory, President FORS Inc.
6105 Fox Road Oxford Junction, 52323, Iowa

We also welcome non-cash donations including value papers (shares etc), pledge for legates, and in-kind donations like books, car, or even your time if you get involved in our activities.

Each donor will get a receipt acknowledging the donation and the amount that is tax-deductible according the IRS regulations.
For all non-cash donations or any other question or remark you might have, please contact our director Robert Dulfer at rd1 -- czechfriends.org.(please at the @ sign at the dashes, inconveniet, but writing a full email address is the quickes way to ask for spam.)

Thank you for your support

For who wants to read and know more:
why should we support this

Most people are prepared to give something to non-profits helping Americans and preserving American heritage. But why should you help a foreign non-profit working in South Bohemia, Czech Republic?

We can give several arguments why you should help us support the Czech Rozmberk Society. In the end, it all boils down to two things:

You think that their heritage preservation and regional development activities are something worth supporting
You realize that without help from foreign donations, a Czech non-profit cannot survive despite a healthy track record in project funding; European project funding simply does not pay for all costs.

Another one? It is also about investigating and preserving a not very well known part of American history. The background and stories of those who emigrated, why they left their home country to travel to America and help settle the new US states, is part of our history as well.

What they need

The Rozmberk Society has a very impressive track record in obtaining project funding; no funds are needed for running specific projects or activities. Unfortunately, European Union and Czech grants need pre-financing and grants hardly ever cover all costs. In addition, daily operating cost (office rent, staff, developing project proposals, etc) are not paid for at all.

Basically, the Society needs funds to pay for essential activities outside projects and for running the Peasant and Emigration Museum in Kojakovice and the historic Blacksmith workshop in Nove Hrady.

Both visitor's places are too small to ask high entrance fees; hiring an extra person to collect the possible fees does not pay off. However, with free entrance people often leave voluntary donations similar to a potential entrance fee and buy some goods in our shop. Although this income helps, it is not sufficient to pay for all operating costs either.

In general, running both places and the minimum office costs amount to about 15,000 USD yearly, including payments for two persons throughout the year and an additional four during the summer season. With those costs covered the Society can also continue with preparing and running community and regional development projects helping to create new jobs and opportunities in the region. It also guarantees ongoing research on and preservation of the regional emigration history.

Help from us is needed to continue these activities. Even 15 years after the fall of the communism, the Czech society and the Czech people are still busy repairing the material and emotional damage done by close to 50 years of oppression (seven years under Nazi occupation and over 50 years under communism). Although people start to realize that non-profits are an important part of the restoration efforts, State and people do not yet have sufficient extra funds to substantially support non-profits. Corporate sponsorship is also low, and aimed at high-publicity events.

Your money also goes a long way. For example, the costs for employing one person for one month in the Czech Republic is 500 USD, including all taxes, social and health insurances (only 260 USD reaches the employee after taxes).

Finally, donating to the Friends of the Rozmberk Society instead of direct help has the advantage that your money is handled through a secure and reliable US charity, your donations are tax-deductible, and we can control that the money is really spent as should be.

If you want to know more about the activities of the Czech Rozmberk Society, please visit their English website or the site for the Ecomuseum Ruze with visors information about the Rozmberk museums and the region. Or you can click the Donate Now button.

Friends of the Rozmberk Society Inc is an Iowa-based non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation;
donations to the corporation are tax-deductible ( EIN/tax ID number: 30-0202715).

Design by the Bear (Robert Dulfer 2006-2016)