History is recorded not only on the front page of the newspaper; history — the history that, in the end, really matters — transpires inside the walls of our homes, in the small and quiet moments that define our lives.
From one year to the next, the histories of some people, of some families, become happier and more secure; for other families, the stories of their lives grow bleak and seemingly hopeless.
But there is hope — which is why, each year at this time, we who work for the Tribune and those of you who read the paper try, together, to do something to help people who may feel that they have hit bottom during the year just past. Each November I am honored to begin our campaign with this column. Your response — and you have never let us down — literally lifts lives.
So once more, our annual plea:
A newspaper has a unique relationship with its readers. Those of us who put the paper out — hundreds of us on the editorial side alone — work all day to produce the publication that you read every day. You wake up and the result of our work is there, on your doorstep or outside your apartment or at a newsstand or in a vending box.
We don’t know each other. Our contract is unwritten. We try to do our best so that the newspaper you read every morning is as good as we can make it. You pay your money for the paper, accepting on faith the fact that we’ve tried to give you value.
Sometimes it’s hard to think of each other as people. We think of you as “the readers” — on a Sunday morning, more than a million of you purchase this newspaper. You, if you think of us at all, regard us as “the Tribune” — a bundle of newsprint.
But it’s not really like that at all. You aren’t just “the readers” — you’re so many individual men, women and children, each of you with your own joys and heartaches. And we’re the same way. We’re not just “the Tribune.” We’re men and women with lives and families and the same daily triumphs and setbacks that you have.
It’s something for all of us to think about each holiday season. We meet here each day — we who write, edit and produce the newspaper, and you who read it — and if we are lucky enough to be financially secure, this is the time of year to think of those less fortunate.
The Chicago area is full of people who don’t have the kinds of lives they should have. We write about those people all the time; you read the stories. Too often we depict those people only as names, ages and statistics; when we do our jobs well, we manage to convey some of the humanity behind the names.
At this season, though, all of us — the people who read the newspaper and the people who put it out — give special thought to how we might offer help.
Potentially, we’re an awfully powerful force — together. The million-plus of you who bought the Tribune today are of different sexes, ages, colors, religions, neighborhoods. What binds you together is that you are Tribune readers.
Similarly, those of us who put out the paper would have no way of “knowing” you except for one fact of our lives — we work for the Tribune. Alone we’re scattered and divided; together we have the power to get things done.
Newspapers often expose and deliver unpleasant truths; it’s part of the business. But during the holiday season, the Tribune has decided to get together with those of you who read us and try to do something special for people who need our help. You have been reading this appeal here for 14 years now; throughout the season, throughout the paper, the Tribune’s writers and artists will ask you for the kindness of your help.
The Chicago Tribune Holiday Fund has been founded to help the hungry, the destitute and the forgotten among us, and to provide toys for disadvantaged children. Among the agencies we have helped are the Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois, the Glenkirk Foundation for the Retarded, the Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Chicago, and the Salvation Army.
Our hope remains a simple one: that we can count on the bond that exists between us — readers and newspaper — to bring a little happiness into some lives. Every day of the year we exchange news and information; at this time we want to try to join together to do some good.
So once more this year, if you think you might like to help, the address is: Chicago Tribune Holiday Fund, Box 5120, Chicago, IL 60680-5120. Last year the largest individual donation was $50,000; the smallest was $1. We will be most grateful for either of those from you, or for anything in between.
