Dear Community Supporters,
I am so VERY happy to announce that today is a very GOOD news day!
When we found ourselves at the end of our financial rope mid-October, we did something many people frown upon: we told the truth. Honestly, it could have gone either way, but we felt we owed it to our community to be upfront and honest about the situation. As we’ve said since the beginning, this isn’t our newspaper, it’s YOUR newspaper.
What happened left us at a loss for words, which is hard to do considering our favorite book is a thesaurus. Over the course of a few weeks, you collectively contributed more than $40,000 to save the Herald. Thank you SO MUCH for your vote of confidence in the value of community journalism!
Your overwhelming outpouring of support gave us enough breathing room to step back and take a hard look at the situation, make some difficult decisions, and seek the wisdom of a lot of people much smarter than we are. We first looked at converting straight across to a nonprofit. This is gaining steam in the news world, and there are some good models for it. Unfortunately, a sticky combination of financial factors makes this option impossible at this time, although it’s not off the table in the future. Another idea that was floated was that of a “fiscal sponsor” – a nonprofit entity that can raise and disburse funds to help keep the Herald financially stable. There are some larger entities who do this, but none were willing to work with us.
Enter the Rio Blanco County Historical Society. Their mission: to collect, preserve, and interpret the heritage and culture of Rio Blanco County. For 138 years, that history has been collected, preserved, and interpreted in exactly one place every single week without fail: the Herald.
Because their mission aligns so closely with what we do, the idea of a local-level fiscal sponsorship was almost a no-brainer. The Lyttle Project, named in honor of Herald founder James Lyttle, will accept tax-deductible donations for “supporting the preservation and continuation of our community story” in our historic newspaper.
*cue blubbering*
Although the road has been difficult (0/10 stars do not recommend), we are THRILLED with the end result. We hope The Lyttle Project will benefit our entire community, lasting long past our stint as stewards of the Herald and keeping this vital part of our unique culture alive for future generations.
This is ONLY possible because of your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We hope you’ll join us for The Lyttle Project Launch Party, “An Afternoon at the Museum,” on Sunday, December 17, beginning at 1 p.m. (Stop in any time!) This will be part of Rio Blanco County Historical Society’s quarterly meeting at the Heritage Culture Center, 5th and Park Street, Meeker.
We will enjoy a look back at the Herald’s story, learn more about the sustainability plan, and tour the Museum in all its Christmas splendor! We are also working on some exciting plans to make history come alive! If you’d like to, please bring a vintage holiday dish to share and join is in celebrating.
This is only possible because of YOU!
From all the Herald’s caretakers since 1885, thank you. 🖤
Caitlin and Niki
A digital donation portal is in progress. If you’d like to donate, you can mail a check to The Lyttle Project, ℅ RBC Historical Society, PO Box 413, Meeker, CO 81641. Donations to The Lyttle Project will be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The Lyttle Project is a component of the Rio Blanco County Historical Society, a Section 501(c)(3) organization. The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is: 90-0175993.
