EDITORIAL: To our supporters: thank you! (06/20/04)

EDITORIAL

To our supporters: thank you!

Readers may notice that toward the end of this issue there are multiple pages of names of donors to various projects supported under the aegis of the Ukrainian National Foundation, the 501 (c) (3) entity affiliated with the Ukrainian National Association (which basically means that donations to the foundation are tax-exempt). The lists of donors - which cover the years 2002 and 2003, as well as the first quarter of this year - take up 11 pages! Obviously, the listing makes an impact on the reader.

That got us thinking.

On a month-by-month basis, The Ukrainian Weekly reports on the donations received toward our Press Fund. The listings are published regularly and take up only a portion of one page. So, perhaps they do not have the same impact as pages and pages of names. And perhaps our readers do not pay much attention to these smaller listings. Or do they? From our perspective, however, let us tell you that these donations are noticed - and that they make a huge difference for The Ukrainian Weekly, which never was a profit-making venture, but a community service. While your donations literally help us survive, we see them also as a tangible expression of our hromada's appreciation of this community newspaper.

During 2003, more than $28,000 was received in donations to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund. And that's not counting the additional $5,230 that came in that year via the Ukrainian National Foundation as funds earmarked for The Weekly. During the first five months of this year our donors have already contributed $8,829 to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund.

Each and every donation is dutifully noted and recorded on the pages of this newspaper in order to acknowledge the assistance we receive from our readers and other supporters. We would thank each one of you individually if time allowed, but it does not, and that is why the monthly listings are published in a prominent spot in our paper along with a sincere thank-you.

From year to year, as we read each monthly listing, we've noticed that certain names recur. Yes, it is clear to us that we have quite a number of staunch supporters who contribute repeatedly toward making the publication of this newspaper possible. Some of the donors give larger amounts once or twice a year; some larger donors choose to remain anonymous; and many, many donors chip in with varying amounts.

There are names that stand out for various reasons. Among them are Merle and Bonnie Jurkiewicz, people whom we've never met. What makes the Jurkiewiczes of Toledo, Ohio, so memorable is the fact that their names have appeared on every single monthly listing for quite some time now. (In fact, it's been so long that we don't even know when their generosity toward our newspaper began.)

Our steadfast supporters, we reasoned, just have to be acknowledged in some special way. And that, dear readers, is the express purpose of this editorial. To all The Ukrainian Weekly's donors, large and small, named and anonymous, and to Merle and Bonnie Jurkiewicz and countless others, we offer a heartfelt and hearty thank you.

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