Dear Grice Connect readers,

Today we are excited to announce that we have received a $100,000 challenge grant from Press Forward, the nationwide initiative empowering communities through local news! One of the main goals of the grant is to help us improve our financial sustainability and expand our local reporting across the region.

Press Forward is a national movement to strengthen our democracy by revitalizing local news and information. A coalition of funders is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms, close long-standing gaps in journalistic reporting, advance public policies that expand access to local news, and scale the infrastructure supporting the sector needed to thrive.

Since 2019, we have been on the front lines in Statesboro and Bulloch County bringing you The news you need, when you need it. In fact, over 60,000 of you depended on us to help Helene and Debby get through the hurricane.

Our team is committed to keeping people in our community informed and providing them with the most important news and community information. We work hard to provide connection – a place where our readers can come together and truly engage with our community.

We are grateful and humbled that so many of you rely on us for your local news, and without it we simply wouldn't be where we are today You.

A review panel of national foundation and journalism leaders reviewed our application for how our stories are making a difference here at home and awarded us $100,000 in grant funding.

And we are in good company. Our newsroom is one of five in Georgia out of 205 small local news outlets – including one in each state – receiving a share of $20 million in funding from Press Forward to address persistent reporting gaps.

Motivated by the exceptional quality and number of proposals, Press Forward is funding twice as many news organizations as originally expected under its first open call. Over 900 suggestions were received!

We are grateful and proud to be part of a diverse mosaic of independent, nonpartisan sources that are redefining what local news looks like across America. Our colleagues include newer nonprofits founded as the need for information became clear during the pandemic and established for-profit organizations that continue to adapt and innovate after a century in business.

Some newsrooms cover America's vast rural areas, where they are often the only source of news for hundreds of miles, while other media outlets cover people of color and linguistically diverse communities that traditional news sources have overlooked. Each produces the everyday stories that people need to make decisions about their daily lives.

We are truly honored to be part of this remarkable group of organizations changing the face of local news.

But the $100,000 we receive from Press Forward is more than just a challenge grant. It is a symbolic gesture that national funders are investing in Grice Connect and ultimately in Southeast Georgia and its residents.

This Challenge grant is wonderful news, but we will also need local support to sustain this work long-term – for all of us. Will you help us celebrate this moment and prepare for what lies ahead by making a donation to Grice Connect today? No contribution is too small and every one is appreciated.

We only need 400 of our 30,000+ Bulloch Daily email subscribers to donate $10.00 per month through November 15, 2024 to help us reach our $4,000 challenge grant reader revenue goal -dollars per month to reach.

Now can we count on you to help us realize the full impact of this $100,000 Challenge grant?

CLICK HERE to support Grice Connect

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for believing in us and in Grice Connect. We look forward to continuing to serve Bulloch County for years to come.

With gratitude,

H. DeWayne Grice

Founder/Editor

Learn more about our grant and others at pressforward.news/grantees.

Grice Connect is supported by Press Forwardthe nationwide movement to strengthen communities through revitalizing local news. Find out more at pressforward.news.