CN&R needs your help

It's been a while since I've written about the Chico News & Review Foundation, but for those who read this column regularly, I'm afraid you're in for a lot of that over the next couple of months.

The CN&R Foundation is the newspaper's nonprofit arm. It was formed last spring in collaboration with the North Valley Community Foundation—the local nonprofit clearinghouse that provides the umbrella organization for many other community charitable causes. Its mission is simple: to inform, engage and empower citizens and the communities of Chico, Butte County and the greater region by producing enterprise and investigative editorial content on complex issues.

The reason I'll be writing about this effort regularly between now and the new year is that there's an opportunity, thanks to a generous local, for the nonprofit to take advantage of a grant of $10,000. That kind of money would go a long way toward funding coverage of critically underreported subjects affecting Chico and the surrounding communities. Think government transparency and poverty.

But there's a catch. The foundation would need to get its fund up to $25,000 by the end of this year. As in seven weeks from today. Currently, the nonprofit has raised about $16,500. In other words, it needs another $8,500 to snag that additional funding.

That's a lot of money to raise in a short time, so I'm hoping those who thumb through the CN&R's pages each week—more than 100,000 regular readers—will chip in to help meet this new goal. It may sound clichéd, but every dollar counts. We'd hit the number lickity-split if even a fraction of our readership pitched in a few bucks.

This is new territory for CN&R's editorial department. We're used to writing about other businesses' and organizations' causes and fundraising efforts. We do that type of work on a regular basis, advocating for everything from museums and homeless services to environmental cleanups and support for local retailers.

We hope those connected to some of the causes we've written about will spread the news about this effort with their friends, colleagues and customers. The ultimate goal of this effort is to empower citizens and make our communities better places to live and work. I hope readers see the value in such work and will help us meet that $25,000 mark. Donations may be made online at nvcf.org/fund/chico-news-review-foundation or by check payable to NVCF/CN&R Foundation and mailed to: North Valley Community Foundation, 240 Main St., Ste. 260, Chico, CA 95928.

In other news, between now and the end of the year, CN&R HQ is once again serving as a collection site for toiletries to be donated to local nonprofits dedicated to helping those less fortunate. We're seeking the essentials—unused products such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, etc.

Last year, the public came through in a big way. We delivered several boxes each to the Jesus Center, Torres Community Shelter and the Esplanade House. They were filled with all sorts of good stuff, including lotion, makeup and hundreds of brand-new T-shirts from a local company, Design by Humans. Our office at Second and Flume streets is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for drop-off. Thanks, in advance, for your contributions.