Thank you, Bradenton Herald readers. You made 2020 a very special year | Opinion
On Sunday, March 1, 2020, my wife Marie and I were driving to a dinner out when I received a message from one of our reporters here at the Bradenton Herald: There was chatter on social media that one of the first patients in Florida with COVID-19 was being treated at a Sarasota hospital. By later that evening, we had confirmed that a Manatee County man was suffering from one of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Florida.
Since that evening, 2020, because of the pandemic and so much more, has been marked by too many emotions to count, from fear to sadness to joy, from anger to despair to hopefulness. Those feelings have often come and gone, depending on the day’s circumstances, but the one emotion I hope to never let go of as 2020, finally, comes to a close and we pray for better days in 2021, is a tremendous sense of gratitude.
After my good health, and that of my family, closest friends and co-workers at the Herald, I am most thankful for you, our readers, advertisers and others without whom there would not be a Bradenton Herald. Your support in 2020, whether with your subscriptions, your support for our crowdfunding campaigns in support of journalism or just with your readership, has lifted us to heights that did seem possible as the effects of pandemic gripped our community last spring.
(A special thank you to the Knight Foundation and the Manatee Community Foundation, whose support allowed us to keep our COVID-19 coverage free for all during the first months of the pandemic.)
Like to the rest of Bradenton and Manatee County, 2020 has presented the Bradenton Herald with many unprecedented challenges — namely, working from home while covering epochal stories like the pandemic, racial strife, a divisive election and another busy hurricane season, as our company worked to emerge from bankruptcy.
Whew! That we survived, thrived and prevailed testifies to the courage, hard work and, at times, stubbornness, of the journalists, advertising salespeople, delivery staff and others at the Bradenton Herald
I would not expect any less from them because we at the Bradenton Herald are part of a larger community that since that evening in March has repeatedly displayed those traits, and more, as we have faced the consequences of the pandemic. The grace, generosity and wisdom displayed in all corners of our community have been inspirational, and give me the confidence to say 2021 will be Bradenton’s best year yet.
Your support made it possible for the Bradenton Herald and Bradenton.com to provide daily coverage of the pandemic as its effects multiplied throughout Bradenton and Manatee County, from our hospitals and to our restaurants, from our food pantries to our schools. We provided you, we hope, with all the information you needed to navigate through the crisis, and to hold accountable those responsible for making sure we had what we needed to be protected and safe.
And when George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, we were there as local residents took to the streets to demand justice, not only for Floyd but for their community here in Manatee County.
And as hurricane season heated up, even when we thought it might be over, we covered that, too.
So what will 2021 bring? First and at least for a while longer, continued coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the distribution of vaccines to efforts to recover our economy and to address shortcomings in our health care system that the pandemic has revealed. Right now, we are raising money to help us hire additional staff to provide full-time coverage of the pandemic and broader health care issues in the community. We’d appreciate anything you might be able to give. (You can donate at www.givebutter.com/TheBradentonHerald)
We’d also like to know what you like to see us cover. After all, as I often say, the Bradenton Herald is YOUR newspaper. Feel free to email me at mmasferrer@bradenton.com with your thoughts, requests, complaints, etc.
One of the pandemic’s more profound effects in Manatee County is how it has forced so many of our friends and neighbors who have lost their jobs to seek help in feeding their families from one of the many local organizations offering help. As a community as fortunate — and generous — as ours, no one in Manatee County should ever go hungry.
In that spirit, we have partnered with United Way Suncoast to raise money to benefit local agencies, including Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee and Feeding Tampa Bay, that are addressing the increased demand for help, especially during this holiday season. To make a donation go to https://app.mobilecause.com/f/35fu/n?vid=ff4xn or text HERALD to 91999.
Whatever 2021 brings — and surely, it will bring us plenty — the Bradenton Herald will be here, as always, because of your support. 2020 has been filled with awfulness, but if it has taught me anything, it is the realization that none of what we have overcome and accomplished so we can serve you and our community, would have been possible without your support.
For always, we will be in your debt.
Stay healthy and safe.
Happy Holidays!
And thank you!
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
