Editorials

Commentary: How about some help?

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By Gary P. Custer

Tuesday, November 29, -0001

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We have provided news that affects you, features that inform you and photographs that have delighted you for more than 26 years.

As it has always been, the quality and quantity of news we can provide you depends entirely on how much support you give us.

But without your help we cannot survive.

Specifically, to provide the information you need to make informed decisions about the things which affect your neighborhood we need your continuing financial support, your unwanted office equipment and supplies and a little of your time.

You can help us keep your neighbors informed about the things which affect their neighborhood as a volunteer news staff member. Novice to professional journalists are welcome.

What you can do is only limited by what you can learn about journalism, your city and the things which affect neighborhoods. You must be able to spend four or five hours a week in the afternoons and early evenings to cover neighborhood meetings and the issues which affect residents.

If you have access to a phone and a computer, most of the time will be spent away from the office.

We can teach most people what they need to get started in one session.

Further, as part of our news education program, you will get an intensive critique of every story you write by a professional with more than 35 years experience — training you probably cannot get anywhere else.

You can help us with advertising.

You must be able to spend about four or five hours a week handling advertising accounts. Sales or advertising experience is helpful, but not required if you have good verbal skills and are willing to learn our low-key approach to helping Flint's legitimate businesses and community organizations get their message to the public.

Most of the work involves a simple telephone call to people who want to advertise in East Village Magazine.

We are also looking for volunteers with computer knowledge.

We need someone who knows the inside of Macintoshes (SEs and later) intimately. We have to solve all of our computer problems ourselves — we have no money to pay computer repair people.

We also need someone to help us to put together a professional web site to increase the number of people who benefit from the information we provide.

And of course, we are always looking for people who are willing to spend about 45 minutes each month to see that their neighbors get the information we provide.

Despite the small amount of time necessary to be an East Village Magazine distributor, it is an important job because without a volunteer distributor you do not get a magazine.

We have areas in all neighborhoods which do not have a volunteer distributor and we will distribute in any Flint neighborhood where there is a person willing to distribute.

We can also make good use of unwanted office equipment and supplies.

Many people and companies have unwanted Macintosh computer equipment which has little or no resale value, but which we could use. If you are such a person or work for such a company, consider contributing your unneeded Macintosh computer equipment to East Village Magazine.

We are always looking for computers we can use or that can be cannibalized for parts to keep our other machines and peripherals operating. We are especially looking for Power Macintoshes, printers, 56k modems and hard drives.

We are also looking for operating copy and fax machines.

Also, we need unwanted office supplies such as Zip computer disks, envelopes and paper.

Everything you give to East Village Magazine is tax-deductible.

If you do not have time or office equipment to contribute, consider contributing money to help us pay the bills.

East Village Magazine is the ultimate non-profit, penny-pinching shoestring operation, but we still have to pay publication costs. Every penny goes to pay the $2,200 it costs to produce each issue. Advertising, even in the best of years, pays less than 30 percent of the costs.

Without your contributions the magazine could not exist. Again, your contribution is tax-deductible.

Finally, you can help by making people more aware of the publication you have benefited from for more than 26 years.

The company you work for or the non-profit groups you support can benefit from advertising in East Village Magazine.

About 8,000 families read the magazine in 14 neighborhoods. The cost of a full-page ad is less than the cost of sending a flyer through the mail or delivering it by hand to the people we reach. And most importantly, our readers keep and read the magazine because of its contents — not glance at it and throw it away.

Make a point to mention these facts to the person in charge of advertising for your company or group.

If your company is concerned about Flint neighborhoods, ask the person in charge to consider matching employee contributions to East Village Magazine. Your contribution will be worth even more.

As you can see there are many ways that you can help us provide more of the information you need in these tough times to preserve and improve your neighborhood.

We are not an untried new idea. We have proved our value for more that 26 years.

We need your help now.

If you are not a supporter, consider becoming one by contributing your time, your unwanted office equipment and supplies or your money.

Questions?

E-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , fax us at 233-8684 or call 233-7459 between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. for more information about contributing your time, equipment or supplies.

GPC

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