Help us make t-shirts!

Hey. Jaya Sundaresh here, of Them & Us Media. 

So we're trying something kind of new, here. 

This came about when Tyler McNeil, Them & Us Media's managing producer, showed up to the office (which is also known as Jaya's house) in a hilarious t-shirt, one that he said he made. 

If you can't read it, it says "Corn". And then at the very bottom, it says "Tall Annual Cereal Grass."

Which, technically it is. 

Who can argue with such logic?

I posted the image on Twitter, and a bunch of people asked where they could buy a similar shirt. It gave me an idea. 

What if we sold this dryly funny t-shirt, and donated the proceeds back to Them & Us Media?

I did the math, and to make a 100 shirts, we could make a profit -- again, which would directly be donated right back into our local media company -- of more than $1500. 

But to do so, we need nearly $900 of seed money.

We don't have $900 to invest. 

That's where you come in. Give us $10, $20, $50, and as we sell t-shirts, we'll send you your entire donation back. That's right, it's a loan. 

Sound good? I think it does. 

If we don't raise the entire $900, you get your money back, unless you tell us to keep it.

This is an interest-free loan. You are "paid" in the satisfaction that you're helping a fledgling media company get off the ground. I have no idea when we'll be able to pay this back, but you have my word we'll do so. 

If you donate over $25 and you forfeit your donation, you get a t-shirt! 

Them & Us Media reports about the people of the Capital Region — Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga, and Albany. This will be a source of reportage, interviews, and narrative stories about the people who live here and the things they are going through. 

We are a democratic collective of journalists who are intent on changing the relationship that marginalized communities in this area have had with the media. Our goal is twofold: first, tell local stories that members of the working class need to hear, and second, bring new journalists from underrepresented communities into the fold -- we will train from scratch, if necessary.

Our promise to you: we always will aim to make the powerful uncomfortable. And we will always aim to tell the truth, even if that upsets friends and allies.

If you'd like to make an outright donation, this link is where you can do so!