Commentary: We want your comments

When we began in 1976 we told our readers that we would give them as much information about the things which affect the quality of life in their neighborhoods as we could with the financial and creative resources they provided us. It was an extraordinary act of faith (or naively) for us because the publication's survival was dependent on the willingness of hundreds of neighborhood residents to contribute the money and labor needed to produce the publication – not on a government agency or large private charitable foundations.

We set 11 specific goals before we published the first issue.

• To establish a serious publication meeting professional standards to provide maximum support for community programs attempting to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.

• To provide a community identity by defining the similarities and differences which make our neighborhoods unique.

• To promote a high level of community participation in community affairs.

• To provide the essential information that people who live in the community need to make informed decisions about the issues that affect them, thus make it possible for them to act in their best interest rather than merely react to decisions made for them by other people.

• To serve as a burning glass to focus community opinions so that when people representing the community speak to outside groups they will speak with the power of the whole community.

• To provide a forum for the exchange of differing viewpoints to give the people of the community an opportunity to judge issues on their merits.

• To promote a sense of community by establishing relationships between members of the community.

• To promote pride in our community by making people aware of the unique advantages of living here.

• To help solve community problems by focusing our inherently rich human resources on them.

• To serve as a rallying point for collective community action.

• To survive over an extended period of time by becoming self-sufficient after the development stage was completed (after four to six issues).

Since that first issue published July 3, 1976, we have waged a continuing battle to meet those goals. We have published more than 4,472 pages of news, features and photographs about neighborhood preservation and improvement issues in 399 editions of East Village Magazine. In the beginning, about 500 households in two neighborhoods received the magazine. Now about 6,000 families in more than a dozen neighborhoods get the magazine delivered to them and about 2,000 families in other parts of the city get the magazine from one of our bulk distribution points in a local government, educational or business building.

We think these accomplishments are significant. But only you, our readers, can judge the value of our contribution to the residents of your neighborhood. If you believe East Village Magazine is a valuable resource we would appreciate your support.

There are several ways you can help us do a better job of helping you protect and improve your residential neighborhood
• Contribute your skills and time. We need people with professional advertising and sales skills, professional clerical skills or professional journalism skills who are willing to volunteer a few hours a week. Students who want training, retired people who want to use their skills for a good cause and people who want to prepare to re-enter the job market are all welcome.

• Contribute money to pay the bills. Although East Village Magazine is an all-volunteer non-profit corporation, our suppliers are not. We depend on our readers to pay more than 50 percent of the production costs so that we can devote more than two-thirds of the space in each edition to news, features and photography. If you are a regular contributor, consider increasing your support this year. If you are not a regular supporter, consider becoming one.

• If you have unused office equipment, especially Apple computer equipment, consider contributing it and taking a tax-deduction.

But, whether or not you choose to support East Village Magazine, we would appreciate your written comments about what we are doing right, or what we are doing wrong.

GPC