Click here to donate to Streetsblog Chicago's fundraising campaign. Donate $100 or more and you'll get a 25 percent discount code for Cape Horn Illustration prints, while supplies last. Thanks!
Greetings Streetsblog Chicago readers, I hope you and yours are in good health and are holding up well during these challenging times. (Bummed about the coming of the COVID-19 winter? Check out this guide to epidemiologist-approved cold-weather fun.)
Here at Streetsblog Chicago we've been keeping busy covering the upcoming city of Chicago and CTA, Pace, and Metra budgets, working to make sure sustainable and equitable transportation doesn't get shortchanged. There have also been plenty of recent pandemic-related walking, biking, transit, and public space issues to report on. We hope our coverage has been useful to you as you navigate transportation in the time of the coronavirus.
As for our current fund drive, things have been going very well. As you may know, once again The Chicago Community Trust, the region’s community foundation, has graciously offering to support our work with a grant of $75,000 for 2021. We're very grateful for their incredible support.
If we can raise $50,000 though other grants, ad sales, corporate sponsorships, and donations from readers like you, with a goal of wrapping up the fund drive by January 1, that will bring our 2021 budget to $125K. That would allow us to promote Streetsblog Chicago assistant editor Courtney Cobbs to co-editor, as well as launching a new weekly series focusing on transportation and urban planning issues that impact Chicago’s Latino communities.
Once again our advertisers and sponsors have stepped up again this year to pitch in. Big thanks to FK Law, Keating Law Offices, Boulevard Bikes, the Bike Lane, Shofur, the Active Transportation Alliance, Ride Illinois, SRAM Cycling Fund, Earth Rider Cycling, On the Route Bicycles, Homelight, and Roscoe Village Bikes for renewing their support.
We'd also be remiss if we didn't give a shout-out to our incredibly loyal individual donor who has been giving $10,000 to SBC annually ever since we launched in 2013, who came through once again this year. Huge ups to this superfan.
Big thanks to all of our other readers who've come through so far with donations big and small -- every little bit helps. Right now we're at $30,964, with $19,036 left to raise by the end of the year. There are still some possible ad sales and grants in play, but a significant chunk of that money will need to come from individual contributions.
Fortunately, the good folks at the Ravenswood Corridor-based Cape Horn Illustration have stepped up with a great offer for Streetsblog Chicago readers to help entice some more donations. Cape Horn is the studio of Phil Thompson & Katie Lauffenburger. They create artwork related to architecture, history, and cities, with a focus on Chicago. They make work that features classic home styles, icons of the city, transportation, ceramics work, and drawings and illustrated maps. Check them out at www.capehorn-illustration.com or on Instagram at @cape_horn_chi. "We love Streetsblog and your mission, and we're happy to help out," Phil said.
Here's how it works. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Streetsblog Chicago. If you donate $100 or more, we'll email you a 25 percent-off discount code that can be used for a single purchase from Cape Horn's website. (If you've donated $100+ already and would like to get in on the deal, feel free to email me at jgreenfield[at]streetsblog.org for the code.) Cape Horn will redeem up to 50 coupon codes. The code can be used for a multiple-item purchase, as long as it's in one order. Taxes are added automatically post-discount. Shipping is free for all prints, at least until the end of the year and likely beyond.
Help fund Streetsblog Chicago's livable streets coverage, support a righteous local business, and get a cool print for your home or a jump on holiday shopping: Sounds like a win-win-win to me!
Thanks for your support, and I wish a safe and heartwarming Thanksgiving to those who observe it.
- John Greenfield, editor
Would your business also like to offer a discount to Streetsblog Chicago donors? Please drop me a line at jgreenfield[at]streetsblog.org, 312-560-3966. Thanks!
