Chicago Community Trust awards $75K to SBC, $13K left to raise by New Year’s

Click here to give  to Streetsblog Chicago’s fund drive. Thank you!

Greetings Streetsblog Chicago readers. I hope you’ve been enjoying the holiday season and the relatively mild weather. Friday is supposed to be in the fifties, so while there probably won’t be a white Christmas on Saturday for those who celebrate, tomorrow will be a nice opportunity to get a few warmer-temperature miles in on your bicycle.

Things at Streetsblog have been as busy as ever in December. We’ve had to report on some tragic news, like the passing of Jose Velásquez, a 16-year-old who was fatally struck on his bicycle earlier this month, a death that was mourned by the entire local fixed-gear bike community. But there have also been some encouraging developments on the livable streets beat, such as plans for new raised bike lanes and “island” bus stops on Commercial Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood. And advocacy by local cyclists paid off as the Chicago Department of Transportation committed to adding more physical barriers to the currently-dysfunctional protected lanes on Clark Street in Edgewater.

We’ve also been busy fundraising this month, trying to wrap up our annual fund drive by the end of the year, and we recently got some terrific news in that department. Longtime SBC supporter The Chicago Community Trust community foundation, has once again come through with a $75,000 donation for next year. The Trust has had this publication’s back ever since we launched almost nine years ago, so I’m very grateful for the loyal support. I’d like to give a special thanks to Lauren Woods, program manager for the Trust’s Building Collective Power initiative, for facilitating the grant.

To fill out our budget for 2022, we’ve been working on raising an addition $50,000, ideally by New Year’s Day. The extremely loyal reader who has donated $10,000 to Streetsblog Chicago every year of the site’s existence once again stepped up, which was obviously a huge help towards reaching that goal. Thank you, Streetsblog superfan!

I’m also grateful to all of our other donors and advertisers who have assisted with the fund drive this year. The TransitCenter foundation recently came through with yet another $2,500 grant – much appreciated. And FK Law, Keating Law Offices, Boulevard Bikes, the Bike Lane, the Shofur family of charter bus services, the Active Transportation Alliance, Ride Illinois, HomeLight, Earth Rider Cycles, and Roscoe Village Bikes have all continued their support of the site by renewing their ad purchases. A few more potential ad sales are still in play.

Last but not least, scores of Streetsblog Chicago readers like you have come through with donations large and small to help keep the site going strong next year. We appreciate you!

Are you a regular SBC reader but haven’t gotten around to chipping in yet? Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. We’ve got a little under $13,000 left to go during the next week. While the last few thousand are always the toughest to raise, with your help I’m confident we can reach the finish line.

Thanks again, and have a great new year!

– John Greenfield, co-editor