BY NANCY ROSENSTOCK
BROOKLYN, New York - "We have collected $7,510 on the Militant Fund and expect to collect $325 more." That was the welcome message faxed in by Marilee Taylor, local fund director in Chicago, just before the Militant went to press. Militant supporters there have a goal of $7,500.
That's exactly the spirit that's needed to finish the Militant Fund campaign.
The scoreboard shows the campaign advanced by 10 percent in the past week, putting us at 86 percent of the $125,000 goal. However, only half the areas sent in payments. If readers in every area had sent along what has already been collected, we could easily be on schedule.
The most important thing to note is that the goals from international supporters total just over $132,000. This is the amount we need to top by December 3, when the campaign ends.
Achieving this will take the efforts of partisans of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial in every city - those who are ahead and those who are behind.
Fund campaigner Ilona Gersh in Salt Lake City reports that supporters there are fighting to make their goal of $3,800. Since their pledges still fell a little short of the goal, they have been organizing a systematic phone calling effort to reach out more to readers and supporters of the socialist press. One young woman they contacted by telephone was planning a visit to the Pathfinder Bookstore to check out the books and make a contribution to the Militant Fund.
The biggest jump in the past week came from readers in Detroit, who sent in $2,150. Chuck Guerra reports that the bulk of this money came from a successful fund-raising event that featured Doug Jenness, a member of the Steelworkers union from St. Paul, Minnesota, who has reported for the Militant on political developments in Japan, including firsthand reports on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. atom bombing of Hiroshima.
Also on the platform was Floyd Davis, a pressman on strike at the Detroit News. He thanked the Militant for supporting and spreading the truth about the newspaper strike. The audience contributed $2,000 and made additional pledges of $200.
Fund-raisers in New York also made a big leap in the past week, sending in more than $1,650 and jumping to fourth place on the scoreboard. "We got on the phones to supporters of the Militant and raised $900 from seven new contributors," reported Danny Booher. "Plus, we collected on outstanding pledges." With that extra boost, supporters in New York are confident they can surpass their goal of $7,500.
Militant supporters are urged to send in money collected right away and not wait until December 3. This will make it possible to assess before the deadline how close we are to making the international goal and any final steps needed to close the gap.
All money received at the Militant by Tuesday, December 5, at 5:00 p.m. will be counted on the final scoreboard.
Let's top the $132,000 and ensure the working-class voice keeps being published!