In the first issue of Green Left Weekly for this year, we announced the campaign to raise $100,000 in pledges for GLW by its 1000th issue, due March 12.
Congratulation messages for Green Left Weekly, 1000th issue celebration details, and more here.
Pledges, as of February 20, totalled $99,012. Among these are 41 pledges for $1000 or more. One joiner of this “$1000 Club” is 91-year-old Jim Knight from Grafton, who has been an activist since 1946 in the peace movement and other progressive causes.
Knight is an age pensioner, yet he has pledged $2000 to this year’s fund appeal.
In a letter he wrote to Green Left Weekly some time ago, Knight spoke about his political background.
"I left school, out of necessity, at 14 years of age at the height of the Great Depression and after five and a half years in the army during WWII, I became an anti-nuclear activist and a union organiser in Victoria.
“In 1982 I came to northern NSW where I founded Grafton People for Peace and the Clarence River Landcare Coordinating Committee. Later, after a long struggle against an attempt to build a large paper pulp mill on the Clarence River, I became president of the Clarence Environment and Social Justice Centre.
"I am a socialist ... I know I won't live to see the replacement of capitalism with a socialist society but I will die knowing I did my bit towards that goal.”
Knight has been helping finance Green Left Weekly year after year. For example, in 2008 he sold his valuable, much-loved classical guitar and donated $1500 from the proceeds.
Can you follow this fine example and make a special 1000th issue pledge to help GLW keep fighting for a better future?
Green Left Weekly has built a strong reputation as a consistent voice for truth, social justice and environmental sustainability since it first began publication in 1991. To mark the 1000th issue, we are also calling for messages of solidarity.
You can send your pledge for Green Left's 2014 Fund Appeal and your message of support to 1000thissue@greenleft.org.au.
You can also phone the toll-free line at 1800 634 206 (within Australia) to make a pledge, or make a donation online.
Direct deposits can also be made to Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, Account No. 00901992. Otherwise, you can send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007.