Only a small portion of our society would deny that we are a nation of immigrants. Few in this country can claim they have been here since the beginning. When one considers the impact of the waves of immigrants to our systems of economy, politics, and culture, it is hard to picture our nation without them. A trademark symbol of this was Ellis Island. Since the early 20th century, Ellis Island has been suffering from the attacks of time. Now a major effort is being launched to rescue Ellis Island from collapsing into dust.

The organization heading this is called Save Ellis Island. Their mission statement reads as follows: "To raise the funds necessary to rehabilitate, restore and put to beneficial reuse the currently deteriorated and unused buildings of Ellis Island, located primarily on its south side."

As a partner of the National Park Service, Save Ellis Island seeks to raise private funds in order to do many things, including to establish an Ellis Island Institute, implement a national awareness campaign, and make their fundraising plan comprehensive.

Their website is available at this link. In the end, it is about preserving our past, the very thing that constructs our identity.