Let’s take a trip down memory lane. We’re going back to the year 2013. I had just graduated from art school and found myself despairing over finding a full-time job as an artist. As luck would have it, some of the farmers I volunteered with in Wisconsin started referencing Grist. A writer who worked for Grist had recently interviewed some of the farmers, and they encouraged me to check out Grist’s work.
Talk about a fresh website! I discovered the Grist dream team used original illustrations on their site, not just boring stock photos. This takes talent and time, folks, and I often wonder if donors realize their contributions support my work as well. (Oh yeah, we’re back in the present-day, and I do those illustrations now — wink, wink).
It’s true — your donation not only supports our writers but the incredibly gifted art team as well. You know all those attention-grabbing images you see on our site? Hi! That’s us. So thank you for supporting my dream of finding a full-time art job. You’re making my family proud.
Here’s my reality: When you work for an environmental media organization, you are constantly inundated with tough news about the state of our planet. As a volunteer at a local organic farm, I also see the effects of climate change first-person all the time. This year, we had record amounts of rainfall and it ruined a lot of the crops, not to mention causing an apocalyptic amount of mosquito swarms.
Bottom line? Climate change is real, it’s happening, and we can create the necessary change to create a better tomorrow. You, dear Grister, are a part of the solution.
At Grist, we report on issues that don’t appear in mainstream media as often as they should — and we do it in a fun, accessible way to avoid overwhelming you with gloom and doom. That’s just not our style.
We need people to care about the environment now more than ever. We need them to focus on positive solutions rather than feeling helpless. Your donation helps keep the stories of solutions top of mind — and makes our artistic expression possible as well!
Take a moment to chip in what you can during our year-end fund drive. Every donation, large or small, helps us sketch a path toward a planet that doesn’t burn and a future that doesn’t suck.
Thanks for making my dreams come true, dear Grister!
Artistically,
Amelia Batesy
