Vol. 73/No. 18      May 11, 2009

Fund-raising programs in many cities have attracted new people who recognize the importance of a socialist newsweekly published in the interests of working people. The eight-week drive runs until May 19.

In Washington, D.C., 19 people, including workers from the Smithfield ham processing plant and students from two colleges in Maryland, attended a fund-raising forum and dinner on April 24.

Khaled Awad, who goes to Towson State University in Maryland, spoke at the meeting. "The Militant tells the truth," Awad said. He and another student from Towson invited supporters of the paper to come to their campus and solicit contributions for the paper. Another student from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, came to the program after meeting socialist campaigners four days earlier at a campus meeting on immigration.

In a message to an April 26 fund meeting in Miami, Florida International University student Natan Samuels explains he first subscribed to the Militant last year on campus when he met Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice president. He recently renewed his subscription for one year.

Samuels pointed to a February news series on the restructuring of the Cuban sugar industry saying, "I highlight this story in particular because it sheds light on Cuba—which is of particular interest here in Miami—and because it showed the high level of journalistic substance the paper is accustomed to."

"I have made others aware of the existence and importance of the Militant," Samuels said.

Miguel La Rosa of the Bolivarian Circles also spoke at the meeting on the importance of the Militant being bilingual.

The Militant relies on financial contributions from workers and students to carry out its work. Partisans of the paper should make a special effort to win new readers—those who are renewing their subscriptions for the first time and others who haven't given to the paper before—to making a contribution. This effort goes hand in hand with signing up new subscribers over the coming weeks.

To contribute, contact a distributor near you or send your donation directly to the Militant.

'Militant' Fund Drive: Week 4 of 8