Become A Friend Of The Sun

Dear Reader,

I was scrolling through my friends’ updates on social media — proud announcements, vacation photos, smiling children and grandchildren — when Elaine’s post stopped me. “Tomorrow I will become homeless,” she wrote.

At first I didn’t know how to respond. Elaine and I have lived in the same small town for nearly twenty years. Now and then we meet for coffee. Years ago, when I found out she served on the board of a prominent religious organization, we got to talking about faith and discovered that, despite our different paths, we had similar beliefs. I enjoy her incisive humor and contagious laugh. For a living she cares for the elderly in their homes, but several of her clients had recently died or moved to nursing facilities. Combined with mounting debt, this left her unable to pay rent.

Elaine’s stark revelation moved me. That night I called her to ask how I could help. Then, with her permission, I sat down at my kitchen counter and sent an e-mail about her plight to everyone I know, along with a link to an online fundraising campaign.

I’d never imagined any friend of mine losing the roof over her head, and I was haunted by the despair I’d heard in Elaine’s voice over the phone. I also admired her for being so vulnerable in a public forum. When we keep our frailties to ourselves, it can perpetuate the illusion that we struggle alone.

No ads means we can publish controversial work without having to worry about losing advertisers. It means we can create a reading experience that is uninterrupted by sales pitches. Saying no to advertising also means we count on you for vital financial support.

Here at The Sun we’ve been reminding readers for nearly forty-five years that we’re all vulnerable — and that we’re not as alone as we may think. Contributors reveal their personal difficulties with surprising candor, honoring our real and sometimes painful lives, not the perfect ones we might wish for. We could fill The Sun with upbeat stories and glamorous photos to make it more marketable. Instead we strive to make the magazine more humane.

One way we do this is by not carrying advertising. No ads means we can publish controversial work without having to worry about losing advertisers. It means we can create a reading experience that is uninterrupted by sales pitches. Saying no to advertising also means we count on you for vital financial support.

If you value the work we do, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution as a Friend of The Sun. If not for your donations, this reader-supported magazine would have folded long ago due to rising print costs, postage hikes that favor large publications, increased prices for insurance, and other expenses related to keeping an independent publication alive. Your donation will enable us to continue to give free subscriptions to teachers for classroom use, as well as to prisoners and others who have fallen on hard times. We will continue to offer scholarships to emerging writers to attend our writing retreats. We will continue to fulfill our commitment to pay artists decently for their work. And we will continue to publish writing that makes people feel more connected.

The morning after I sent my appeal, I was startled to find that donations from friends and strangers had been rolling in overnight. By lunchtime Elaine had received more than a thousand dollars, much of it from people neither of us had ever met. Their generosity would allow her to pay off her debt as well as another month’s rent — and what it has done for her spirit is immeasurable. One more month’s rent. One more issue in your mailbox. One more reminder that we’re all in this together.

Krista Bremer
Associate Publisher

P.S. You can also donate online at thesunmagazine.org/donate. Your gift is tax-deductible, and we’ll send a receipt for your records.