Sunday, January 18, 2009
Contributors dig deep to be good neighbors
From the newsroom
Carole Tarrant, editor
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From the Newsroom blog
Since 1983, this newspaper has spent each holiday season asking for your help with the Good Neighbors Fund.
You've seen the evidence of this fundraising campaign in the profiles we run on needy people served by Roanoke Area Ministries. Your donations to the Good Neighbors Fund help RAM provide such vital assistance as paying electricity bills and buying prescriptions.
This year, as our headlines recount layoffs and a deepening recession, your donations were especially needed. And as the campaign closes and we tally the results, it's heartening to see that tough times have not slowed your giving.
In fact, even with a shorter giving season, your donations are well on the way to putting us significantly over last year's $180,964.
On behalf of RAM and The Roanoke Times, thank you for remembering this need and contributing so generously.
I'd also like to recognize the employees whose behind-the-scenes work makes the campaign so successful each year. It seems that nearly every department within the newspaper and roanoke.com Web site has some hand in this project, which typically kicks off with our initial coverage Thanksgiving weekend.
From accounting to online IT, to marketing and newsroom administration -- we draw on the contributions of more than a dozen employees who process donations, spread the word and tell the stories about RAM's good work.
This year that teamwork brought a significant change to donors -- you can now contribute directly online through a link on roanoke.com.
Our thanks, too, go to Betsy Biesenbach, a freelance reporter (and former employee) who writes the compelling profiles of people assisted by the fund.
Each year, you respond to our call in a variety of inspiring ways. The number of individual donors tops 2,000, and the dollar amounts range from a buck to several thousand.
There's the elementary class that contributes and the neighborhood association, the church group and the retirees breakfast club.
There are the donors who give in memory of loved ones, or those who give today because they remember a time when they couldn't pay their bills, let alone spare money for a charity.
While the 2008 Good Neighbors campaign is officially over, your contributions are still welcome. Look for the link on roanoke.com or mail your donation, care of the Good Neighbors Fund, to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010.
Surviving the economy
We know you're concerned with the nation's weak economy and the effect it's having here in Southwest Virginia. We've heard your requests to put more reporting resources into explaining what's happening and providing helpful information to get by.
One result is our new series, the "Economic Survival Guide," which appears in the Monday paper through mid-March. So far, we've offered tips on making a budget and trimming your spending. Coming tomorrow, we'll tell you how to prepare yourself for that worst-case scenario: getting laid off.
What do you think of the series so far? Let me know or join the discussion on roanoke.com. Our Web site includes more tips, previous coverage and resources for individuals and small businesses.
New on the books pages
Read a good book lately? Care to tell us about it?
Today marks the third week since we expanded our books coverage in the back of the Horizon section.
One of the additions is a feature called "May I Recommend."
Don't be shy -- send us a few sentences about a book you've fallen in love with. As journalists, we're a receptive audience. Few of us can think of a better conversation starter than, "I just read this amazing book. ..."
Other additions to our books coverage include reviews for children's literature, best-seller lists from local bookstores and libraries, and news from the publishing world.
Books editors Nona Nelson and Heather Froeschl would like to hear your feedback on their new blog, The Back Cover, blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/backcover/
Inauguration coverage
This week will be an especially busy one in our newsroom as we launch into coverage of the presidential inauguration. We hope to provide ample historical perspective and local connection in our stories and images.
You see our first significant wave of coverage in today's paper, but you can expect more in the next few days, culminating in a special commemorative section inside Wednesday's paper.
Metro columnist Shanna Flowers and photographer Kyle Green will be documenting the inauguration firsthand by riding along on a bus bound from Roanoke to Washington.
Meanwhile, our news staffs in Roanoke and Blacksburg will be fanning out in the Roanoke and New River valleys, capturing life here on this historic day.
If you're planning on being in Washington for the occasion or are celebrating locally, we welcome your photos and stories. E-mail them to news@roanoke.com.
