Dear Fellow Progressives,
Monday was my last day in the office. As I was leaving, I noted that the usually busy streets in the heart of Madison were mostly empty, a surreal experience on the typically bustling Capitol Square. As I walked down State Street, I could see that the shops were empty, and within a few hours all of the bars and restaurants would be ordered to close.
I am sure that many of you have now experienced similar situations. Stores with empty shelves. Kids home from school. Flights and events canceled. Barriers and restrictions. Our schedules have been upended, and for an unknown length of time.
I wanted to let you all know that here at The Progressive we are all doing all that we can to weather the difficult weeks and months ahead. But we still need your help!
We have made strategic changes in our operations. Our staff is working remotely and doing what we can to help curb any transmission of the virus. As you can imagine, this presents a dramatic change to how we go about producing both a magazine and our online articles.
We’ve had over the last few days substantially rewritten our next issue, revising some stories and adding new ones. It’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort, with staff working through the weekends and into each night.
Meanwhile, we have been producing and publishing new relevant stories each day on our website, tracking breaking aspects of the coronavirus story.
All of this has created unparalleled challenges—logistical as well as financial—for The Progressive and its small staff, who have been working more-or-less continually over the past week, a pace that may well need to continue. For us to survive this storm and continue to publish, we absolutely need your help!
We need your support, now more than ever! It really is that serious. Our publication operates on a wire-thin budget. We do not have the deep reserves that many of our peers are able to rely on.
Please take a moment to give us a hand today (in a social distancing sort of way). Online gifts are especially critical now.
As uncertain as things seem at the moment, we will get through this. It is imperative that we look out for one another—together we will see this through.
The future of our democracy, our communities, and all life on the planet rely on fact-based journalism that can stand up to would-be authoritarians. We are counting on you to help us provide the information and facts that we all need.
This is a profoundly dangerous time—and the risks have already been made more perilous by the incompetence of a President that openly resents science and truth.
The Progressive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donation is fully tax deductible. Please contact our office by email to discuss any questions you may have about donation of stock, property, your unneeded automobile, or if you would like to help volunteer.
Visit our website and keep abreast of coronavirus pandemic related updates and articles. Just look for the COVID-19 tab on our navigation bar.
Please be well, stay home, and keep informed.
With gratitude,
Daniel Kenneth Libby, Development Director
P.S. - We are paying a bit extra on postage to get our upcoming issue out to our readers earlier this month. Your donation today will help us cover that additional cost.