Wow. Thank you, readers.

On Dec. 8, Decaturish reached and exceeded its fall fundraising goal for 2022. We hoped to raise $20,000 by Dec. 20. As of Dec. 9, we have met and exceeded that goal, and we have currently raised about $21,000. The fundraiser will officially end on Dec. 20. If you’d still like to contribute, you may do so by clicking here.

Privately, the Decaturish team wondered if $20,000 was too ambitious a goal. Inflation means many of us are cutting back to save money. But the community showed up for us in a big way and we are so grateful. Your support has gotten us through one of the most challenging times in our company’s history. Thanks to your help, we endured and we’re positioned to continue our work of telling the untold stories of your community in 2023.

I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again: Wow. Thank you.

Here’s what some of the people who put us over the top had to say about why they supported us this year:

“Thanks for the great work throughout the year. Support local journalism!” — Benjamin

“I’m not a reader but was directed to your site by a comment in the Washington Post on the story about Casper the hero herding dog. The comment wanted WP to attribute the story to your paper as the original source. I make it a point to support good local journalism wherever I find it, and am happy to donate to your fund drive. Wish it could be more.Nobody understands a community like the journalists who live in it, and the demise of community news sources in the U.S. is a tragedy that affects the entire population negatively. Best of luck on your fund drive; hope it surpasses your expectations.” — Amy, in Phoenix, Ariz.

“Decaturish is a great source of timely news and information in our city. Thanks for doing what you do.” — Sean

“Proud to be a longtime regular contributor supporting Decaturish’s stellar local reporting! You all provide an invaluable service to our community.” — Jennifer

“I really appreciate you guys! Especially the write ups of CoD City Council meetings and CSD Board Meetings!” — Shannon

“Thank you for being the FIRST place I get my news!” — Shell

The support you’ve shown and the trust you’ve placed in us is truly humbling. On behalf of the Decaturish team, I’d like to say it’s a privilege to wake up every day and work hard to keep this wonderful community informed. We are truly lucky. We have the best job in the world.

After the fall fundraiser ends, Decaturish will focus on growing our base of subscribers. We have approximately 2,000 now, but the more support we get, the more we can do. If we had 10,000 people paying us $6 a month or more, that would be enough to hire more reporters and cover more communities in DeKalb County. It’s an ambitious goal, but then again, so was raising $20,000. If you’d like to become a subscriber, visit supportyourlocalnews.com to learn more.

Thank you again, readers, for keeping this thing going. We couldn’t do it without you.

– Dano

Dan Whisenhunt, Editor and Publisher

If you appreciate our work on this story, please become a paying supporter. For as little as $6 a month, you can help us keep you in the loop about your community. To become a supporter, click here. 

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