We are deeply honored — and incredibly proud — to share that La Conner Community News has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association (SNPA) Foundation.
This is more than just a grant. It’s a vote of confidence — in our town, our readers, and the vision that brought this paper to life less than a year ago. When La Conner’s last newspaper closed just shy of a year ago, it could have marked the end of local news here. Instead, our community rallied to start one of the first print nonprofit newspapers in our region — built on the belief that every voice deserves to be heard.
That belief continues to guide us. The SNPA Foundation supports projects that strengthen local journalism, promote diversity and create sustainable business models for the news industry. Our work to amplify Indigenous voices, cover rural life with nuance and care and build community embodies that mission.
This grant will help us sustain and grow that work: paying journalists fairly, printing and distributing the paper, maintaining our website and deepening our engagement with readers. It’s seed support that will allow us to build a long-term foundation for local news.
To the SNPA Foundation, we extend our heartfelt thanks for recognizing what we’re building together. To our readers, donors, advertisers, and volunteers: this moment belongs to you, too. Your trust, generosity and belief in community journalism made this possible.
As we celebrate this milestone, we’re also looking ahead. Our holiday giving campaign is underway, with a goal of raising $70,000 to keep the paper strong into 2025. Thanks to early supporters and this donation, we’ve raised $39,000 toward that goal!
La Conner deserves a newspaper that’s rooted here, accountable here, and for everyone who calls this place home. With your help and with the support of partners like the SNPA Foundation, we’ll keep building it, one story at a time.
Kari Mar is the editor and publisher of La Conner Community News.
