Go ahead and ask

The Gleaner has been fortunate enough to receive grants from a number of sources since its revival in 2019. While we might have survived as a media outlet without those grants, there is no doubt that our organization would not be operating at its current strength. The grants have funded the hiring of some of the talented and dedicated staff we count among our numbers, and have allowed us to take more time to look at our big picture and launch initiatives that will keep the newspaper resilient for years to come. One such initiative that we hope to move ahead with is a Gleaner podcast, which would be funded through the Bourses d’initiatives en entrepreneuriat collectif (BIEC). I’m going to slide in a shameless plug here (more on why later): while the main grant is decided by a jury, there is also a people’s choice award as part of the BIEC program, so please go vote at bit.ly/3Hq9il0.

Our grants have been obtained almost exclusively due to the skills and experience of our publisher Hugh Maynard (or “Hugh Grant,” as he has been dubbed by one of our board members). When we marvel at his success rate, he waves us off modestly and tells us a story of when he was in a previous role and decided not to apply for certain funding because he didn’t think he would get it. It turned out there were few applicants, and he would likely have been granted the funding. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” he tells us now.

Many people do not like to ask for anything, fearing they will be judged or turned down, or simply because they don’t want to impose on whomever they are asking; but if you don’t pursue the things you want, you might wait a long time for someone to offer them to you. So, if you were waiting for a sign: go apply for that job you’ve been eyeing, seek out financial support for that passion project you’ve been dreaming of, or simply ask that friend to lend you a hand with that minor task that would be so much easier with a second set of hands (and please don’t forget to vote for us for the BIEC people’s choice award!).
Chantal Hortop