Information you can trust about the COVID-19 is vital, and we need the community’s help to keep providing it.
The owners and staff of the Keizertimes are determined to provide the community with up-to-date information about the coronavirus pandemic that is important to you and your family
Eric A. Howald, Matt Rawlings and Lauren Murphy are staying in constant touch with all the right people to keep alert to changes. As information changes, seemingly hour by hour, we will keep you informed via our Facebook page and at keizertimes.com (where access to coronavirus stories is free).
Stephanie Wittman, our advertising sales representative, is figuring out how to help businesses let customers know they are still up and running. This week we are preparing a Support Local Businesses promotion to help businesses tell Keizer if they are open and what they are offering during the current climate.
The staff is doing all of this while many businesses are shuttered and we are giving away much of our work online. We decided to give free access to stories on the novel coronavirus because people need the information only we can provide. No other news organization in the area has the skill, the speed and the credibility to do this work. We were made for this moment.
Yet, we have to keep fuel in our tank and that’s why we are plunging ahead with a new donation campaign. This one is different from anything we’ve done before.
How?
Simply, because now contributions to our operation are tax deductible (and they can be anonymous). We have teamed up with the national Local Media Foundation to afford donors a chance to get a tax benefit while they help sustain the Keizertimes. Every dollar goes to keeping us going and, more importantly, keep the flow of vital information going to the community.
We love our subscribers, but $10 a month just isn’t enough to sustain operations. We make no apology for asking for support. Marion County likely hasn’t seen the worst of the pandemic, and you need to know what’s coming – and what’s here. You need to know what’s happening to businesses and jobs – and what’s on the other side of the economic canyon that has been cut through Keizer and the region.
Get behind us and get behind our campaign and I promise that we will drive hard to care for the community with credible information, the truth – and inspiration for Keizer to recover and regain its vital strength.