1. Buy the newspaper and a zine.
Find a vendor to buy a zine and a newspaper. Vendors are out in all weather selling a new issue every week, and for the next six weeks through Dec. 31, they are also selling a zine created and edited by Street Roots vendors. Vendors put in a lot of work, so please buy one or 10. The zines make great holiday gifts, and if your vendor was involved, they might even autograph your copy.
2. Throw extra in when you can.
Tips help vendors so much. Remember — every dollar you give a vendor goes directly to them; they are running their own micro-enterprise. They buy the newspaper for a quarter and sell it for $1, and the zine for a $1 and sell it for $4. Remember that Venmo is always an option. Venmo
@streetroots and then list your vendor’s badge number (and name, if possible).
3. Support SR journalism directly.
Do you appreciate that Street Roots has an independent, hardworking newsroom that digs into public records and investigates systems — such as the high number of deaths in county jails and years-long challenges to Portland’s fossil fuel terminal? Does it matter to you that we invest in a full-time Indigenous affairs reporter so we can report on tribal news, Indigenous joy and more? As a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, Street Roots qualifies for the NewsMatch fund to support our newsroom. NewsMatch will match your donation to Street Roots dollar-for-dollar the week of Sunday, Nov. 26 to Saturday, Dec. 2.
4. Stop in for a meal at Laughing Planet on Nov. 28
Laughing Planet will donate 10% of all sales on what we call Giving NewDay. Did you know that 24 days each year, Laughing Planet brings in burritos to make sure vendors have a good lunch? We are proud to be their partner.
5. Select the donation path that works for you
However you give, and however much, it helps. That’s how we do it: nearly half of all our yearly operating budget comes from individuals.
You can donate directly online at streetroots.org/donate or via mail at Street Roots, attn: Street Roots Winter Fund Drive, 211 NW Davis St. Portland, Oregon 97209.
We also receive donations through giveguide.org/nonprofits/street-roots. Willamette Week's Give!Guide bolsters philanthropy for more than 200 nonprofits.
We are even set up to receive stocks, which some supporters donated to support renovating the new building to support Street Roots vendors — which includes an elevator, a wellness center with showers and laundry, an expanded newsroom and a classroom for job training. Interested in learning more? Email development manager Nina Lee at
nina@streetroots.org.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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