Hitting my fundraising goal

When I created my GoFundMe page, I wasn't sure what to set for my goal. I've never done this sort of thing before, and my friends and family seem to occupy the usual spectrum between stingy and generous. I set it at $3,000, or a little less than $300 per lake.

For a while there, it didn't seem like I was going to make it - and I was OK with that. Since the number was arbitrary in the first place, I was just happy to be contributing something, even if it was only $1,000. That still goes a long way for a young woman and baby in need.

If you look at the page now, I'm at $2,501 (thanks to Ben Jacob for the only donation not in a $5 increment). But in fact, today I went over my $3,000 goal, thanks to my job.

We have quarterly awards for various things at the Democrat and Chronicle. One of the categories is called "Making Rochester Great." It goes to people who do a lot of community service and what not.

The important thing is that it comes with a $500 donation from the D&C to a charity of the person's choice. So today, I was very proud to win the award - for the second time now - and direct the $500 to Nurse-Family Partnership, putting me at $3,001. I'm not sure if the company will agree to send it to my GoFundMe or just cut a check directly to the organization, so it may not show up, but the money is there.

I'm not terribly comfortable writing a post about winning an award, but I'm doing it for two reasons. 

First, while the award was for things I've done mostly off the clock, the most important aspect of my job is being in a position to improve my community, and to shine a light on others who do so. In the last few months, that has included writing about a program that gets city kids out into the woods; a profile of a Honduran refugee who managed to graduate high school in three years despite arriving here with no English at age 16; and an investigation into mistreatment of some of the most vulnerable students in Rochester, those with disabilities. If I couldn't write about that sort of thing, I wouldn't much like being a journalist.

Second, I really appreciate working for a company that places value in the right things. The newspaper/online media/whatever industry is a turbulent place right now - maybe you saw John Oliver talking about it a few days ago - but we're still doing important work, and the D&C and other papers like it are still informing and inspiring people in every city in the country. The D&C doesn't have as much cash lying around as it used to, but it still puts aside thousands of dollars a year to support important causes like this one.

So, thanks to my bosses for the generous donation, and to everyone else who helped me get to my goal. And if you have any extra cash left and you don't yet subscribe to your local newspaper, give it a thought.