Please help us to continue to cover the impacts of COVID-19 on Whatcom County
Dear Bellingham Herald readers,
The coronavirus pandemic has continued far longer than most expected and we hope that you will again generously support our work in Whatcom County.
In the next four weeks, we are asking for your help in raising $15,000 to ensure The Bellingham Herald can continue to cover coronavirus and its economic fallout in Whatcom County.
The community was so generous when we asked in April, helping us raise thousands of dollars more than we expected in our first Give Butter campaign.
I hope you agree that was money well spent. We’ve provided clarity around daily numbers, offered analysis and pushed agencies to reveal COVID-19 information.
We’ve given you the information you needed to live a somewhat normal life during the pandemic: As Whatcom hair salons ready to reopen, it’ll be a different customer experience; As coronavirus restrictions ease, here are Whatcom stores offering curbside service; and What do Gov. Inslee’s loosened COVID restrictions mean for Whatcom County residents?
And we’ve brought you exclusive coverage: Paycheck Protection Program spent $320 million in Whatcom County. Here’s where it went; Nearly 75% of Whatcom’s coronavirus-related deaths are from nursing homes, data shows; and Since pandemic began, 56 Whatcom healthcare workers have tested positive for coronavirus.
Beyond the daily COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths, we’ve sought to put faces to those impacted. Intern Martin Bilbao interviewed a St. Joseph hospital doctor. Reporter Kie Relyea said her story about the life of Hilson Emily Darkenwald “made me think of the life that she lived and how these stories of heartache and separation have occurred hundreds of thousands of times in the U.S. For each life lost, there is a family that mourns.”
The reporters, editors and visual journalists at The Bellingham Herald continue to work day and night, mostly from their homes around Whatcom County, to bring you news about the coronavirus pandemic.
We know how important local news and information is.
“The interviews I’ve had with business owners and those trying to get unemployment benefits are what I remember most about the COVID-19 pandemic to this point,” Reporter Dave Gallagher said.
“Those interviews were difficult because these people had every reason to be very stressed out at the times I called them. For the business owners, the conversations have been about being shut down, financial hardships, difficulties getting PPP, trying to get customers back into their stores. For the unemployed workers, the conversations were about the frustrations of trying to get benefits, uncertainty about what comes next, and feelings of being left behind.
“In all of these interviews, I was struck by how well they were handling terrible situations. The stress was there, I could hear it in their voices. But they chose to talk about it because they wanted the community to know what was going on. There was also plenty of determination in their answers, too. They were trying to find solutions and had no intention of giving up.
“I felt motivated to get these stories out to the community... they needed to be heard and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to provide it.”
We all are. But we need your help. COVID-19 has greatly impacted our business.
So we’re asking you to make a tax-deductible gift to support expanded coverage that looks at how COVID-19 has changed life as we knew it, and how Whatcom County will move forward with education, health care, business and jobs, the arts and outdoors. Your donation will directly support this journalism.
We will continue to hold governments accountable, keep after agencies to release numbers so you understand what’s happening and provide timely updates on issues about daily life in the time of coronavirus.
You can contribute online at the givebutter.com/thebellinghamherald campaign.
Or, you can send a check payable to Local Media Foundation, with Bellingham Herald in the memo area, to Bellingham Herald GiveButter, 2211 Rimland Drive, Suite 301, Bellingham, WA 98226.
With help from the Local Media Foundation, your tax-deductible gift goes directly to ensuring sustainability for The Herald and continued accountability reporting as we navigate this critical time. Your help will go directly to the newsroom, not the business bottom line.
If you’re not a subscriber, you can also support our local reporting by becoming one at bellinghamherald.com/subscribe. If you’re already a subscriber, please suggest to friends and neighbors that they join you and subscribe.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
