After the Jump – A Project to Help Laid-Off Journalists

Stacey Singer of The Palm Beach Post and the SPJ South Florida Pro Chapter are spearheading a project to create a non-profit entity to will raise and distribute funds to journalists in transition. We’re tentatively calling it “After the Jump.”

The project is still in the initial development phase, and we invite everyone interested in making the project a reality to attend the first meeting. Here are the details:

DATE: Sunday, March 29th
TIME: 11 AM
LOCATION: Panera Bread, 2101 N Federal Hwy #114, Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Please note:

Jill Barton, formerly of the AP, is about to graduate from law school and has agreed to help manage the incorporation/legal needs for us. That will be the main topic of discussion, along with a brainstorming session on what role we can and should play to be most useful to journalists in transition.

If you can’t make it March 29, don’t worry. The next meeting will be Sunday, April 19, same time, same place.

Please think about what areas you would be most interested in working on:

I. Incorporation/Legal/Mission/Charter/Ethics/financial/taxes (Jill Barton)
II. Fundraising and other event planning (Progressive dinners, volleyball tournaments, auctions, pot-luck socials, journalist-band concerts? What about seminars? What you need to know about being self-employed, how to set up and run a web site, freelancing 101, managing your finances after a layoff, etc….)
III. Establishing a volunteer network for transportation/babysitting/computer help, etc. Web site set-up, communications.
IV. Corporate giving and collaborations (hitting up the news companies and foundations, partnering with other news-oriented non-profits)
V. Guidelines for financial assistance and targeted fundraising (How do we go about meeting needs while being fair, minimizing bureaucracy at the same time?)

Thanks for supporting this idea. None of us have to face this transition alone.