Sometimes a gift comes along that changes everything.
The Whatcom Community Foundation has awarded us $50,000 to replace aging computers, upgrade software and build new websites for The Northern Light in Blaine and All Point Bulletin in Point Roberts.
And boy, did we need it.
When we took over operations of these newspapers, we inherited computers that were old when Obama was president. Some date to the early 2010s.
Our reporters have been making newspapers on machines that can't run Slack, handle video calls or support many of the applications we use every day. They've been using their personal phones to get work done.
We need about $100,000 to bring everything up to speed. Thanks to the Whatcom Community Foundation, we're halfway there and can get started immediately.
This is a foundational gift, and a life-changing one for our staff. We are deeply, deeply grateful.
But here's the thing: We are still very much a nonprofit newsroom operating on a shoestring. Grants help us build for the future. Our neighbors help us keep the lights on.
Since launching our membership drive in September, 55 generous neighbors have signed up to make monthly donations. That's a terrific start, but our goal is 300. We need 245 more people willing to invest $15 or more a month in keeping local journalism alive in Blaine, Birch Bay and Point Roberts.
That's about $3.50 a week. Less than a fancy coffee. And it makes an enormous difference.
We're building something pretty remarkable here: locally rooted newspapers that can share resources, support one another and stick around for the next generation.
But we can't do it without you.
The Whatcom Community Foundation just gave our future a tremendous boost. Now we need our neighbors to help sustain it.
Will you be one of the 245?
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