Editorial: Your contributions will help the Bugle continue to thrive
This is a great place to live, right?
We have the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus, Como Regional Park and all of its amenities, and a vibrant residential and business corridor along University Avenue.
We live in neighborhoods of mature trees, winding streets and interesting alleyways. We have neighbors from around the world, successful and lively local schools, unique businesses and active faith communities. Community groups work diligently on transportation, housing and environmental issues. We have coffee shops, breweries, art galleries, and the Creative Enterprise Zone.
We even have our own newspaper, the Park Bugle, which keeps us informed and up to date on what really matters in our community: road-construction timelines, new building construction, the latest from our schools and what the kids are up to. The paper connects the pieces of our community and provides the information we need for our daily lives.
The Bugle is a small, nonprofit operation, managed by an excellent and very part-time staff, that produces an award-winning publication every month, for all of us.
Though the Bugle is delivered free to your home and local businesses every month, it is not “free.” The Bugle relies on the financial support of its neighbors to continue to serve its community. While advertising revenue covers some costs, donations from Bugle readers form an important part of the funding needed to produce, publish and deliver the paper to 14,500 homes and businesses and to help beef up the paper’s online presence.
Many neighborhoods have lost their community newspapers in recent years, so it’s more important than ever for each of us to help sustain this important resource.
It costs $13,000 to produce every issue of the Bugle. Thirty percent of that is printing and distribution costs. Five percent pays for administrative costs, and 65 percent pays the salaries and stipends of our staff, writers and photographers who create the content you love. Advertising sales cover only 70 percent of the Bugle’s operating costs. Our goal is to raise $37,000 in this year’s fund drive to help offset these costs.
If you’ve donated to the Bugle in the past, thank you; please consider giving more this year. If you’ve not given, now is the time. You will make it possible for the Bugle to keep telling our stories for another five, 10 or 35 years.
You can donate in a variety of ways: There is a return envelope inserted in this issue of the Bugle for your donation, or you can v click on the “Donate Now” button in the upper-right corner of this page. Or simply mail a check to: Park Bugle, P.O. Box 8126, St. Paul, MN 55108.
Together, with your financial support, we’re confident that the Bugle can continue to be part of our community conversations in the years ahead.
I hope you will join us and support the Bugle with your gift.—Betsy Currie, chair, Park Press board of directors
