Here in the U.S., we have “public” radio stations – nonprofit organizations that support themselves through donations, and conduct pledge drives during the course of the year to increase their funding. The announcers often use a pitch like, “I’d like you to think what Public Radio means to you. How you would feel, if it went off the air?” It’s cheesy, for sure, but presumably it works, since they keep doing it, year after year.

Having BCTS offline for the past 24 hours reminded me of how much this forum means to me, and how I would feel if we lost it. For over 25 years, Erin and her team have kept the website running, and the challenges have just continued to mount. She has built a priceless archive of stories that center the experiences of a tiny slice of the population, generally marginalized, often misunderstood, and recently targeted for attacks by demagogues eager to exploit cultural wedge issues. A more timid soul would have stepped back, or even walked away.

But that archive of stories, precious as it is, means less to me than the people I’ve encountered here, and the community that they – maybe I can even say that we – have built together. A community that shares its stories and supports each other. We can’t lose that.

Erin faces tremendous financial pressures, keeping all of this running. Just think of the hours that Piper had to put in, behind the scenes, to guard the website from a new security threat. Every month, and sometimes more often than that, Erin has to post messages asking for support. I try to put something in every month; this month I’ll up that amount 50 percent. If anyone can drop in a bit, or a bit more, please, please, do. We can’t lose this.

And finally, beyond financial support for the site, please support the wonderful authors who are putting out stories every day. It costs nothing to leave a kudo or a comment; all you have to do is create a free user profile. Trust me, getting feedback on a story matters. It matters a lot.

Think what BCTS means to you. Let’s make sure it stays around.