Relief News Tuesday 3.8.2011

#LoveRelief Update

So you may have already noticed, but our support raising campaign is really coming along. We're at 13% of our goal and feeling good about it. But do you know what would make us feel better? Giving to us if you haven't already so we can get that 13% over 20% by the end of this week.

If every person that visited our website last month gave us $1, we would have more than enough money to meet our campaign goal. If everyone who visited our website in the next two days gave us $1, we'd be over that 20% goal for this week. Just $1. That's a cup of cheap coffee. We're not asking you to donate the cost of a cup of Starbucks coffee--though we wouldn't mind it. But maybe if you just gave up the cost of a cup of coffee that you'd order at that run-down diner you visit too late on Saturday nights. Really, that's all we need here.

So if you've got some spare change sitting around, think of the positive effect it would have if you gave it to your favorite edgy Christian literary journal. :)

Introducing Travis Griffith, Blog Manager

Relief is proud to announce the arrival of Travis Griffith as the new Blog Manager. Travis has blogged for Relief in the past, and we appreciate his willingness to conquer the tasks that are required in this new staff position. Travis is a Relief published author, and he has a book out called Your Father Forever. Please join me in welcoming Travis to the Relief staff.

An Encouraging Story

Bonnie shares an encouraging story about how donations can save print media. In this age of technology, digital media has overshadowed printed materials.  Looking around it seems like everyone has an e-reader of some type.  While the pros and cons of e-readers are a topic of debate among literary connoisseurs it is hard to ignore the growing number of people who use them.  Even in my family it is a topic of debate.  I have one and enjoy it and my husband feels negatively about them.  With the growing number of people reading from digital files, it is growing increasingly harder to sell printed material like books, journals, and magazines.  I found an encouraging article about one such magazine that turned to donations to keep going in this technology-saturated age.  I hope that if you read their story that it will encourage you to give to Relief Journal.

In this age it is hard to believe that there is any hope for print media.  Paste is a small independent music magazine that shares a story of financial triumph in hard times by turning to donations from loyal readers to stay in print.  By asking for donations and changing their magazine’s format for a short while they were able to continue to pay their staff and print their magazine while increasing their subscriptions.

Relief, run by volunteers, offers authors a creative outlet and provides exciting new stories to interest readers.  It is important to realize that subscriptions don’t cover all of the costs of printing, so for print media to survive, donations are needed.  Please consider a gift to Relief so we can keep on printing.  While digital media is growing, there is nothing quit like sitting on the couch with a good book in your hands.  Please show Relief some love.

Bonnie Ponce is the Director of Support Raising for Relief and lives in Huntsville, Texas with her husband and betta fish. She has a BA in English from Sam Houston State University. After work she enjoys relaxing with a good book or working on her novel.

Thankfulness

Bonnie Ponce reflects on being thankful. Thankfulness.  It is a word that we think of around Thanksgiving but recently I have been thinking a lot about being thankful.  The other day my husband and I were watching Veggie Tales, which may be strange since we don't have kids, but we were watching the episode with Madam Blueberry.  She is a very "blue" berry who is sad.  She is told that buying more stuff will make her happy but on her way to Stuff Mart she sees a less fortunate girl thanking her parents for a meager birthday dessert of apple pie.  Later she sees a little boy ask for a cool train set but is told no by his father and instead he gets a bouncy ball and he also says thank you, making an impression on Madam Blueberry, who learns to be thankful.

Seeing this short video made me think about my wish list - all the stuff I want and if I had money to burn I would probably begin to make a dent in my list.  It also made me think about what I am thankful for in my life.  Thankfulness is tough - it is so much easier to go through life, see stuff, and want it but to be thankful you have to use your brain and think of what you are thankful for.

Thankfulness is the language of love and joy.  It speaks from a heart overflowing with hope of good things to come.  With Relief I see many good things coming in the future and I hope that with the Love Relief campaign we can continue to bring great literature!

Just an ending thought on thankfulness:

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a gift and not giving it. -unknown

Bonnie Ponce is the Director of Support Raising for Relief and lives in Huntsville, Texas with her husband and betta fish. She has a BA in English from Sam Houston State University. After work she enjoys relaxing with a good book or working on her novel.

Share a Story

Bonnie Ponce encourages Relief readers  to love Relief through donations. When I think about helping Relief through support raising, I think about my current job - support raising at a university.

Support raising, I think can have a negative stigma.  Asking for money, even for a really good cause like Relief Journal, can be awkward for people.  But the support raising process can lead to rewarding new friendships and shared stories.

Relief Journal allows authors to bare their souls through their writing and they reach a unique audience. Great questions are asked through poetry, fiction, and shared experiences. We support raise because we want people to continue to find their voice and share it with others.

I remember when I first heard about Relief.  I was a little confused by the name but after I read the mission statement, I understood that Relief was raising the bar on Christian literature and bringing a fresh new point of view.  I was thrilled to find like-minded people that wanted to write and read faith based fiction that dealt with the sinful and painful side of humanity but also the hope that we have in Jesus.  I knew that I wanted to be a part of this group, to help support raise so these stories could continue to be shared.