Every month, Judi and I struggle to cram as much news into the pages of NEWS On the Green as we can. There is no shortage of news in Brookfield, Masury and Yankee Lake, and we know there are many more stories we could be doing, if only we had the time to pursue them.
For those of you who prefer your news online, we put a fair share there, too, including a majority of the stories from the paper, breaking news and stories that are likely to change by the time the newspaper comes out.
NEWS On the Green is a labor of love for us: serving the town where we live, writing about the issues important to our neighbors, learning about what it means to be a resident of Brookfield, Masury or Yankee Lake.
We try our best to be out there: visible in the community, learning what’s on people’s minds, seeking the tips that lead to great stories.
We want to be there for you.
Now, we need you to be there for us.
NEWS On the Green is a free service because we want people to have access to the news, even if they can’t afford it. However, it also means people assume, because we keep putting stories out, that we are earning the money we need to keep it going.
We are not.
Advertising sales are our main source of income, but it only covers the overhead, the cost of printing the paper, paying for our online presence and buying supplies. We have subscribers who pay for home, mail and online delivery, and we have donors who send us some money every once in a while, because the news we provide means something to them. We also do freelance work, which brings in a little now and then.
It’s not enough. The biggest expense we have is us. We need money to live on. If NEWS On the Green is to survive, we need to earn enough to keep doing it.
That’s why we are holding a fund drive. Starting with the delivery day of our August edition, Aug. 2, we hope to raise $5,000 in donations by Nov. 1, the day our second-anniversary edition will come out. We still need new advertising and subscriptions, but we really need help from those who pick up the paper at the local store or cherry pick stories from our Facebook feed.
The amount of an individual donation does not matter. Sure, we would accept large donations, but it also will take a lot of small ones to keep us afloat.
If NEWS On the Green is to survive, we need you, and you, and you.
It’s up to you.

We have good news, too: We now are able to take payments online through our website, www.newsonthegreen.com. Donations, subscriptions and advertisements all may be paid for using major credit cards, Paypal and Venmo.