Earlier this year we celebrated our five-year anniversary. In May of 2019 we ran our first story and started this adventure in neighborhood news. But five years ago today, Oct. 15, 2019, our first member joined through Patreon to support our work. Today we have over 290 members.
We wouldn’t have five years of local news without five years of member support.
So thank you to our members for making this possible.
What Member Support Means
We’ve published more than a thousand stories about West St. Paul, working to keep this community informed:
- Meetings: We cover West St. Paul City Council and ISD 197 School Board Meetings.
- Neighborhood news: We inform the community about what’s happening down the street, from business changes to local events.
- Elections: It’s hard for voters to find information about local races, so we go deep and cover local primary and general elections, including a detailed voter’s guide and printable version.
- Contributors: We hire local writers, artists, and photographers to write stories, create postcards, and take photos. We’re especially interested in giving students an opportunity.
- Freely available: And all that content is freely available to the public. No paywall here.
None of that happens without our members. Thank you.
What Do Members Get?
Most of our members join because they want to be informed and keep their community informed. They see the value and want to keep it going.
But there are also more tangible benefits:
- Exclusive updates: We send a weekly, members-only email with insider news and sneak peeks.
- Breaking text alerts: We send members-only text messages with breaking news.
- Mail: We commission local artists to create postcards highlighting West St. Paul and send them to our members to say thank you.
- Discount: Members save 15% in our online store.
Join now through Patreon to support neighborhood news. It starts at just $3 per month.
