Lives upended and lost, but hope remains: Help us continue to tell those stories

Dear readers:

The coronavirus pandemic has brought significant challenges to our families and our communities. Businesses hurting. A staggering loss of jobs. Heartbreaking losses of life. Stress from having our daily routines turned inside out.

It has also sparked stories of courage, giving and inspiration. At The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, we feel a responsibility to report and share as full a picture as possible so you can make the best decisions for your particular needs.

In the past two months, our team has published 320 stories plus dozens of videos, Q&As, newsletters and voice updates. We’ve covered the breaking news, the ever-changing preparations made and precautions taken, posted a steady stream of utility information and provided exclusive enterprise journalism.

If you live on Hilton Head Island, you already know that our Katherine Kokal has become a must-read. No one has detailed the town’s struggles to attempt to balance public health concerns and tourism and local business needs in such depth.

If you care about our beaches, stay-at-home orders, which businesses were opening and closing, how our hospitals were preparing and how schools are adapting, the Packet and Gazette have been here for you.

We’ve told personal stories as well. In “Giving up on the system,” Lucas Larson introduced you to 73-year-old Diana Wanbarger, who shared her story of what it was like to be tested for COVID-19 and then the agony of having to wait 16 days for the result.

We also introduced you to Pamela Lazarus Rickett, who spent eight days in the hospital and then faced the nightmare of trying to navigate the bills that followed.

And this weekend, in a special report, we plan a tribute to those who have died locally in the pandemic.

We’re still offering non-coronavirus coverage as well, of course.

We were on the scene to report on the tornadoes that ripped through Hampton County, killing five people. We told you how a group of Dataw Island residents got creative to protect Oak Island. We were the first to report that Bluffton may once again be in need of a new police chief. And how Beaufort County came to a $700,000 lawsuit settlement because of how it tried to cut retirees’ health benefits in 2016.

We are grateful we can be here for you.

And like you, we are stressed. About our health and our jobs.

The pandemic has brought layoffs, furloughs and salary reductions to newsrooms large and small across the country. Like so many local businesses, we are not immune to today’s economic realities.

The first few weeks of the pandemic, we made all of our coronavirus coverage free to everyone, whether they subscribed or not. Since then, we’ve scaled back. Breaking news and public health and safety information is still free, but other coverage has been restored to subscriber-only status.

Subscriptions are critical to our ability to sustain local news coverage and to our future. If you aren’t subscribing, please consider doing so by visiting islandpacket.com/subscribe.

If you’d like to help otherwise, you can now make a tax-deductible donation to preserve local journalism. We have partnered with the nonprofit Local Media Foundation, which is accepting contributions on our behalf. Donate by visiting givebutter.com/islandpacket.

Your tax-deductible gift will help us continue to report fully on the coronavirus’ impact on our communities. We aim to raise $75,000 to keep our reporters reporting, our videographers recording and our editors at work to bring you the news.

With help from the Local Media Foundation, your gift goes directly to sustaining the Packet and Gazette and, more specifically, the papers’ newsroom.

We realize many in our community are hurting. For some, a subscription or a donation is not an option. We understand, and we will continue working to provide you with critical information for free as long as we can.

But if you’re able, please consider supporting our work in one of these ways. Our ability to continue serving you depends on it.

Brian Tolley is the executive editor and general manager of The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.