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All of us at Mountain Pride Media are proud to announce a series of new project initiatives we believe will help advance our mission of developing community among the GLBTQ folk Vermont. The following initiatives all get underway this month — who says these are the "lazy days of summer?"
On the top of our agenda is the enhancement of our Web site (www.vtpride.org) to incorporate more innovative, state-of-the-art features, through which people around the state can access Out in the Mountains and each other. Also central to this project is providing developmental support for the Web sites of three other non-profits serving our community: Vermont CARES, Outright Vermont, and the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (VCLGR). Mountain Pride Media is committed to helping these organizations access their specific constituencies and our broader community, and vice versa.
In addition to linking the VTPRIDENET e-mail discussion lists to our Web site (an improvement which will enable access for individuals who do not have a personal e-mail address), we are establishing the capacity to maintain electronic meeting rooms on the MPM Web site for the use of all of Vermont's GLBTQ organizations. Access to virtual meeting spaces will allow organizations to schedule and conduct on-line meetings and conferences with their members around the state, regardless of Vermont's rural geographic challenges or inclement weather. These same rooms will also be made available for hosted issue-oriented events or casual chat.
We will also be establishing a searchable database of the Out in the Mountains archives, continuing to enhance our on-line community calendar, and expanding the links from our site to others of interest to our community. The price tag for this Web site expansion is over $17,000, most of this expense coming in the form of expensive computer hardware and software. We are very happy to announce that we have secured $4,000 contributions for this project from both the Haymarket People's Fund and the Gill Foundation, grantors who, working in partnership with us, are committed to supporting Vermont's GLBTQ citizens.
John Canning and Jay Schuster at the Physician's Computer Company in Winooski are so committed to our success that they have established a matching grant for this initiative, whereby PCC will match donations to MPM made by other businesses in support of this Web site project totaling as much as $3,000. Their faith in our capacity to inspire additional gifts from businesses has energized us to aggressively pursue other local funding, so we will be able to complete this project within its one-year timeline. Watch for future updates and announcements updating our progress on this exciting project.
We are also embarking this month on an ambitious public outreach program, through which we will be co-hosting workshops and receptions with local non-profits in every area of the state. Our objective in organizing these gatherings is to help educate our constituency about the services we offer to individuals and other non-profits within the GLBTQ community. We will also provide workshops designed to increase our pool of writers statewide and help community members better communicate with mainstream media. Finally, these gatherings will provide a forum for local supporters to share their perspectives and concerns with the MPM Board and the editor of OITM.
The Green Mountain Fund for Popular Struggle has provided $3,000 to fund this project, and our Community Outreach Team is working to establish a schedule of monthly events around the state. Look for us to visit your region soon, and please make a special effort to join us to share your thoughts on how Mountain Pride Media can better serve you, and how you'd like to get involved with Mountain Pride Media.
As announced at Pride this past June, Mountain Pride Media is also benefiting from a generous $4,000 matching grant from the Samara Foundation designed to help us establish a major donor program. Mountain Pride Media and Out in the Mountains, like the other non-profits serving our community, cannot survive without the financial support of the community. The Samara Foundation will match the $20 cost of new annual subscriptions taken, and the full dollar amount of contributions made between July 1 and December 31 of this year of $100 or more in cash. The Mountain Pride Media board will be very aggressive in encouraging donations and new subscriptions so that we may take full advantage of Samara's generous support. Remember, with our 501(c)(3) status, all cash contributions to Mountain Pride Media are tax deductible, so please give generously.
How are we going to manage all of this, while still publishing this quality newspaper every month? With the combined energies of our dedicated Board of Directors, which at our Annual Meeting in June joyously welcomed four new members (Roland Palmer of Hinesburg, Richard Slappey of Brookfield, Carrie Rampp of Middlebury, and Thomas Henning of Burlington), our talented editor Barbara Dozetos, the committed volunteers who work so hard to get this paper into your hands every month, our generous and inspiring funders (please join us in a chorus of "thank yous!"), and community members like you!
We're excited about all of this activity, and look forward to continually expanding our services to GLBTQ individuals and organizations around the state. Please contact us if you are interested in working with us to complete these projects and to plan for future expansion. Join us, and be a part of our busy and rewarding year ahead!
