By Scott Carlson
A further Bugle fund appeal
We recently passed the halfway point of the Bugle’s 2022-23 fiscal year and concluded our annual fund drive.
The good news: Through early February, we have raised about $45,000 in donations from individuals, businesses and organizations.
Now, for the rest of the story: Our donations are down by about $10,000 compared with the same period a year ago.
One likely reason for the decline is that there a significant number of people who made donations to the Bugle in 2021-22 but, as of February, hadn’t made contributions yet during the current fiscal year.
Currently, the Bugle has adequate savings, but any dip in financial support can’t be ignored. Especially at a time when Park Press Inc. is committed to strengthening our website and social media outreach.
With that in mind, Park Bugle board member Helen Warren wrote the following letter that was scheduled to be sent to previous donors who had yet to make contributions for fiscal year 2022-23. I thought Helen’s letter was worth sharing with all of our readers.
Helen writes:
Dear Park Bugle reader,
It is tax season, when we total up what we make and calculate what we owe to people we don’t know and to institutions we can’t always understand.
It’s time to consider how we benefit from efforts we don’t ask for or purchase directly.
Perhaps it’s not a good time to ask that you make a gift to the Park Bugle, your community newspaper. But that’s exactly what this message does.
Your gift will help the Park Bugle “turn readers into neighbors” by sharing our accomplishments and our challenges, by welcoming newcomers and remembering those who leave us.
Each month, the Park Bugle shrinks the distance separating us from neighbors who travel along our streets, stand a few feet behind us in the checkout or sit a few rows away at gatherings we attend.
After a couple of years of social distancing, we need the Park Bugle more than ever, so that “near strangers” become more familiar.
Community journalism isn’t a luxury.
It is a staple that strengthens the bonds between us. But it doesn’t happen without the steady support of readers. Please make your gift to keep The Park Bugle strong and expand its reach in print and on social media.
I made my $150 gift because I know not every reader of the Park Bugle can afford to support it. But everyone who picks up a copy or visits the website deserves to know a little bit more about their neighbors.
No gift is too small to do some good. You can donate online at parkbugle.org.
Thank you for supporting the Park Bugle.
Helen Warren,
Board member, The Park Bugle
