This article was written by Dan Lynch
I’m on the board of the nonprofit Camden Community News; holding several different positions. Years ago the paper had a group of delivery people who made home deliveries to designated areas in Camden each month. My first experience with the paper was as a substitute paper delivery person for my son and ex-wife. Eventually hand delivery to homes was discontinued.
The Camden News board opted for mail delivery – it cost more, but it was reliable. For the last 17 years the Camden News has been mailed, via the U.S. Postal service, to all the homes in Camden.
Business deliveries were allocated to one person, and that is when I started hand-delivering the Camden Community News to local businesses like restaurants, churches, schools, neighborhood organizations, parks, libraries, senior citizen centers, etc.
Eventually, my affiliation increased into becoming a board member. I regarded this local paper as something valuable to our neighborhood. As most of our readers know, the Camden News has served this area since 1976.
As a nonprofit, money is not the main fuel that keeps us going. It’s people. People who work for the Camden News generally work for free—are volunteers. But money is a factor too – the hardships the newspaper industry is experiencing, COVID-19, no ad revenue, minimal number of business to homes ratio of our area and other factors. We’re all struggling now.
I am hoping to promote volunteer interest in our newspaper endeavor; create appreciation for what we have in the Camden News. Can you highlight the good and bad of our area? Examine the time and place we are in the world, country and neighborhood in articles? I am hoping we are able to connect, find insight and see a path to a productive future.