If you haven’t yet heard, I took a spill late last week, and fractured a bone in my shoulder. Under any circumstance, this would be a bad break (pun totally intended), but when you consider that Watershed Voice is entering its final week of the largest fundraising effort it has ever undertook, the timing couldn’t be worse.

When this was typed out, it wasn’t by my hand, but by my wife, Deborah Haak-Frost. You may have noticed in recent months that Deborah’s contributions have increased exponentially, as she has filled in as part-time staff writer, resident graphic designer, and any other role we have needed her for, despite working a full-time job elsewhere, and serving on the staff of another prominent local nonprofit, *culture is not optional.

While I’m incredibly grateful for my partner’s multitude of talents and willingness to perform tasks that she is skilled enough to perform despite not having a formal education in journalism, asking her to fill this role on a permanent basis is not only unfair but unrealistic.

This is where you come in. With six days left in our NewsMatch fundraising campaign, we have raised just over $10,000, which is an accomplishment in itself, but we remain approximately $5,000 short of our goal. While the difference may seem insignificant at first glance, it’s important folks realize that once all of our donations are tallied and the matching funds are deposited in our account, the difference between $10,000 and $15,000 raised means $10,000 less in our operating budget should we not reach our goal.

Reaching this goal is paramount because it will enable us to hire a staff writer which, before my injury, would have meant increased capacity and represented a step toward sustainability. It would still mean all of those things and even more, as I will likely be sidelined for some time.

At Watershed Voice, we take great pride in providing coverage of local news and culture through a solutions lens, as we, like you, live and work here, and want what’s best for our community and the people in it. We hope to eventually be in a position where we can offer all of our content free of charge, ensuring that no one will lack the information they need to make decisions in their daily lives as well as in the voting booth. In the coming months, we will attempt to lay the groundwork to achieve that goal, because we believe that an informed public makes a better community for everyone.

With that said, the first step toward reaching our ultimate goal is reaching the immediate goal of raising $15,000 by Sunday, December 31. If you have the means, please donate now. If you lack the means to make a contribution before our deadline, please ask family, friends, and coworkers to make a contribution of their own, and spread the word as we inch closer. Thank you for your consideration and support.

My best,
Alek Haak-Frost
Executive Editor and Publisher