Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Taking a deep breath and saying thank-you

by Melanie Jongsma, Publisher

LANSING, Ill. (July 3, 2021) – Earlier this week I read some alarming statistics about newspapers in America — traditional newsrooms are shrinking, news coverage is disappearing, and small towns are becoming “news deserts.”

To be honest, my first reaction was to write a somewhat-urgent “appeal” post, which published on June 30. I wanted to make sure Lansing Journal readers realize how tenuous our situation is. I wanted to add some new names to our family of supporters, to increase the buffer between survival and extinction.

But on July 1, the start of a new month, I looked back at June’s activities, and my anxiety was softened by gratitude.

More than 120 people made a contribution to The Lansing Journal in June. Some of them give because they want to “pay for” their free subscription. Others understand the costs involved in quality journalism, and they want to help cover those costs. A few know me personally and want to support me as much as the paper.

It’s possible that one or two saw the same stats I saw, and they gave out of fear of losing their community newspaper. But probably not.

I think most of the people listed below give out of hope rather than fear, joy rather than obligation, gratitude not resentment.

Seeing this list was a reminder to me to just take a deep breath and say thank-you.

Thank you, June supporters, for keeping this newspaper going for another month. Thank you for your encouraging notes (see sidebar) and your expressions of appreciation. Thank you for being patient with us as we figure out new ways of reporting and publishing local news — efficiently and effectively.

Thank you for believing in the work we are doing, and thank you for supporting it. Thank you for continuing to ensure that this community has a community newspaper.

Thank you, June supporters

  1. A & S Painting
  2. Lindsey and Saad Abbasy
  3. Karen Adams
  4. American Legion Riders
  5. Donna Marshall Attinello
  6. Annmarie Aud
  7. Judith Beezhold
  8. Dan Bergan
  9. Barry Bergstrom
  10. Susan Bovino
  11. Theresa Bresnahan
  12. John Bush
  13. Maryann Centracchio
  14. Richard Christian
  15. Laurel Clausing
  16. June and John Cole
  17. Greg and Jane Compeau
  18. Marlene Cook
  19. Diane Costello
  20. Denise Cox
  21. Kerry Czarobski
  22. Debbie DeNardo
  23. Lisa Doorn
  24. Fran Duffy
  25. Barb and Rich Dust
  26. Betty Dykstra
  27. Donald Dykstra
  28. Roseann Dykstra
  29. Alexa Edwards
  30. Margaret Evans
  31. Sandra Farmer
  32. Frank Fetters
  33. Fine Tune Auto
  34. Marilyn Freeman
  35. Jim and Judy Friesema
  36. Tina Funchion
  37. Jeff Gajewski
  38. Rebecca Garcia
  39. Edward Gonzalez
  40. Evelyn Gossman
  41. Jacob Gourley
  42. Cynthia Griffiths
  43. Patty Grigutis
  44. Anonymous Donor
  45. Cam and Megan Harvey
  46. Julie Hiskes
  47. Ted and Helen Hnatusko
  48. Ralph and Lois Hoekstra
  49. Marjorie Holme
  50. Mark Hornung
  51. Donna Huizenga
  52. Stephanie Jansma
  53. Melanie Jongsma
  54. Anonymous Friends
  55. Jean Klacik
  56. Frank Knittle
  57. Judith Koch
  58. Pat Kremer
  59. Cynthia Krusza
  60. Pamela Lancy
  61. Ron and Gloria Lang
  62. Bruce Langman
  63. Jim and Suzanne Long
  64. Luci Lugowski
  65. Kathleen Maanum
  66. Frances Mabry
  67. Cheryl and George McNamara
  68. Dehlia Mendoza
  69. Lynda Mendoza
  70. Roberto Mendoza
  71. Christine Merchat
  72. Chuck Murach
  73. Nauta Enterprises
  74. Care Newhof
  75. Marilou Ooms
  76. Grant Oppenhuis
  77. Mary Beth Palka
  78. Thomas Panichi
  79. Robert Parrent
  80. Moira Peterson
  81. Richard Podgorski
  82. Rosemarie Polgar
  83. Jay and Chris Popp
  84. Joanne Pritchard
  85. Lorraine Przybyl
  86. Jean Qualls
  87. Anonymous Donor
  88. Penelope Rellis
  89. Jane Roseen
  90. Anonymous Supporter
  91. Jennifer Saia
  92. Carol Schaap
  93. Sandy Schultz
  94. Schultz Insurance Agency
  95. Dave Schurman
  96. Pete and Shirley Schurman
  97. Robert Shimala
  98. Connie Simon
  99. Todd Simon
  100. Slaughter & Associates
  101. Michelle Smith
  102. Richard and Frieda Smits
  103. Kelsee Stallinga
  104. John Stole
  105. Raymond Sutorius
  106. Jim Sweeney
  107. Carol Taylor
  108. Linda Todd
  109. Anonymous Friends
  110. Virginia and John Ulaszek
  111. Leo Valencia
  112. James Van Milligen
  113. Rita VanDrunen
  114. Gerrit Veenstra
  115. Tim Vermeer
  116. Sandy Vree
  117. Scott Wagner
  118. Phyllis Warsen
  119. Waters Edge Aquascaping
  120. Dana Wood
  121. Robert Wood
  122. Patricia Yos
  123. Chris Zdanowski

making a difference

Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma grew up in Lansing, Illinois, and believes The Lansing Journal has an important role to play in building community through trustworthy information.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hello Melanie,

    It has been exciting to see the Lansing Journal progress in staffing and coverage. I look forward to reading each day’s edition. With the growth of your publication I would imagine your readership will be expanding as well. Many subscribers receive the paper electronically and that should increase as people move on to other communities but still wish to keep up to date on Lansing news. Your addition of a weekly video that summarizes the week’s highlights is a fabulous idea. Many of the major newspapers do this as well. May I respectfully submit that perhaps instead of leading off with the greeting, “Hello Lansing” that you welcome recipients with a greeting such as “Greetings from the Lansing Journal.” Although a fairly minor detail, it will indeed increase the sense of membership that such a video may inspire.

    • Thank you for your kind encouragement, Robert. And I love your idea about changing our greeting in our weekly videos — you are absolutely right to point out that not all our readers are in Lansing proper, and we certainly don’t want to make any of our readers/viewers feel excluded. Josh and I will be sure to make that correction in upcoming videos. We appreciate your input!

Comments are closed.

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