CINCINNATI - The financially troubled National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is getting a new lease on life.
A new plan would save more than $1 million by combining some management operations with the Cincinnati Museum Center.
This is welcome news for the center, and community leaders as well as freedom center visitors.
With an estimated $1.5 million deficit wiped away, they hope to see this center continue to teach its important lessons for both young and old. <\/p>\n
One of the Freedom Center's biggest fans, who is very excited to hear about the new plans for keeping the center open, is only 12 years old. <\/p>\n
Maia Thompson, a seventh grader at Mason Middle School, was shocked to hear about the Freedom Center's financial woes. <\/p>\n
\"I was sitting with my mom and I heard that the freedom center might be closing and I started going crazy. I was like, 'What? I know this can't be happening,\" said Thompson. <\/p>\n
Last year Maia decided to do whatever she could to help out the Freedom Center. It started with creating a YouTube video asking for help. In it she says, \"Up here we have something called the Freedom Center. It's an amazing experience and it taught me a lot. I recently learned that the center might be closing down...\"<\/p>\n
Maia didn't stop there. She also decided to create a special Freedom Center T-shirt with the words \"Fan the Flame\" and \"Be the Spark\". <\/p>\n
\"I discovered a website and I found out you could make shirts on it, and you sell them for a profit,\" she said. <\/p>\n
The T-shirts will be sold at the Freedom Center gift shop and at the \"Taste of Mason\" celebration on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n
Maia's mom, Deborah Thompson, is especially proud. <\/p>\n
\"Maia is the kind of person who is always giving and always sharing and... that's one of the things she'll do,\" she said. <\/p>\n
When asked if she'd like to work at the Freedom Center, Maia replied, \"Yes. I think I'd like to be a tour guide because it would be really cool to show people around and talk to them about the exhibits.\" <\/p>\n
Details of both museums' new management system will unfold during a news conference Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n
Stay with 9 News and WCPO.com for updates. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Continued here: CINCINNATI - The financially troubled National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is getting a new lease on life. A new plan would save more than $1 million by combining some management operations with the Cincinnati Museum Center Continue reading
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