| By Bob Weaver
We are very grateful to those who have sent contributions.
The Hur Herald's fundraising drive is pretty bleak.
The fund drive is off 40% from last year.P>
Despite having well over two million visitors yearly from tens of thousands of readers, donations are off from last year.
I find it difficult to issue a plea for funds.
It makes me feel like a media driven evangelist who says you can't be enlightened by sermons unless you send money.
During earlier days, my grandmother McCoy would mail a $5 bill to radio preachers on a Oak Hill radio station, who every few weeks would threaten to go off the air unless they got some cash.
Unless the donations come, it is a fact that the Herald will not continue for a 13th year. Maybe it's the unlucky year.
The Herald is aware of the great financial collapse experienced in the US, its' pain certainly being felt in rural West Virginia and elsewhere.
The Herald, since its beginning, never intended to make money, with no personal income derived from its publication, the goal has been just deliver news, information, history and stories about life in our small piece of the big world.
We have had aspirations to upgrade the Herald, buy new equipment, update the page with more options, add audio, video, etc. None of that has been possible.
We need a minimal amount of donated money to operate and keep it going, with some money generated by banners and money donated to the cause from my small income.
At the same time, we and several other individuals have placed enormous time and energy into the project.
We have received lots of comments from readers who suggest that "If every reader would just send a dollar," you could make it.
That's true, but unfortunately donations come from very few supporters, some being very generous.
Pay-to-read is not yet an option.
The Herald is also a victim of human behavior.
When its free, why bother.
It's the same dilemma facing newspapers and magazines, many who are hanging on by a thread, because people now expect to get their news and information free on the Internet, ignoring the fact that someone has to gather it, write it, photograph it, all requiring time and money.
So, if you are a reader and the Herald has been part of your reading life, "Brother, could you spare us a contribution."
The decision to fade would be difficult for us.
That choice will be made for us.
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