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Friend,
Last year at the summer height of the pandemic, a longtime reader named Helen wrote to say that while she had lived “below the poverty line all [her] life,” she wanted to support our ongoing work with a $700 donation from her “unexpected” stimulus check.
“Yours is the only news source I look at voluntarily or read past the headlines,” Helen wrote. “Bad news that I can’t do anything about is something I avoid like a nest of hornets.”
Despite the many woes going on in the world, Helen said she wanted “to share my bounty with you” so that Common Dreams could “keep sharing the good news prominently” in ways that others do not.
We can’t thank Helen enough for her generosity. It humbled us beyond words when we considered what such a gift truly and deeply represents.
We were also humbled by another extremely generous gift, from a reader named Harvey—this one for the incredible amount of $5,000—which arrived earlier this year with a note:
“I turned 90 this year. Some 65 years ago a friend sold me a mutual fund. I had very little to invest, and that has never changed, but I wanted to help my friend. Well, I have never done anything with the fund, and over the decades it has grown substantially.
“Now that it has grown, and I have had no part in its growth, it means I have not earned it. Therefore, because I have not earned it, it is not mine. So, I have cashed it in and am distributing the money to individuals and groups that will make good use of it.”
Harvey signed off with a single word: “Peace.”
Now, most donations that support Common Dreams are far smaller than these examples, but every gift that comes into us—regardless of its amount or from where in the world it arrives—is a testament to those who give them, as well as the spirit of what we have tried very hard to build over the past 25 years.
Independent news—built on a mission to serve the common good by practicing journalism funded not by corporate advertising dollars or mandatory subscription fees, but by a community of people who believe in a better world—does not exist without good and passionate people who not only believe, but understand that such efforts must be funded.
Every day, our dedicated team, which I am so proud of both professionally and personally, gets up each day to do the kind of work that Helen and Harvey and millions of others depend on. You depend on us, but we could never do it without you.
So if you can support our ongoing mission today—please do. It’s a crucial time in this planet’s history, and the hardest work has only just begun.
We are humbled by all who support our work, but as Harvey said, we vow to put these gifts to “good use” on behalf of all our common dreams.
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