As we all battle the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, the effects are very much local. And we all need to think about addressing it in that way.

Our collective first responsibilities are to stay as healthy as possible, help our family, friends and neighbors stay healthy, help keep our co-workers and work environment safe, and do what we can to help those in need persevere through the pandemic and its economic effects.

Many in our community have the ability to work remotely — usually from home. And those folks are doing their part to stay physically remote in order to help slow the spread of the virus. Others must work at their physical workplace due to the nature of their work.

While health care workers are on the front lines, caring for those who are sick, there are many other heroes all around us. First responders, grocery store workers, delivery personnel, those working in production environments, among others, are our new heroes in this challenging world. We salute them and appreciate them.

Local newspapers like the Statesboro Herald, the journalists and all staff who work here are identified as an “essential business.” At the Herald, we are working to report the latest news, get information from local leaders and businesses and share the personal stories of local folks in the midst of dealing with the pandemic. 

As you may know, we’ve put the critical and urgent COVID-19 pandemic information relating to public health, safety and security on our website for free. While “free” is not a good long-term business model (nor is it reflective of its true value), we do this as one way we can contribute to slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19.

But we also wanted to do something for our partners, the local business community, who are attempting to navigate through perhaps the most difficult economic times our nation has faced since the Great Depression.

So, we are introducing our Advertising Match Partnership, providing up to $250,000 in matching advertising funds across all our products – the Statesboro Herald, the Bulloch Pennysaver, Moments Magazine and statesboroherald.com.

These matching funds are open to all local businesses in the Bulloch County area, ranging in value from $200 to $5,000. They can be applied to any Statesboro Herald publication during the months of April, May or June. It’s easy to apply. Simply click here to go to www.statesboroherald.com/amp, enter a few pieces of information, and you’ll be contacted within one to two business days with a response.

Ever since the Statesboro Herald was founded 83 years ago in 1937 as the Bulloch Herald, we have operated our business with the goal of trying to always be community-minded.

Today, we are all faced with unprecedented challenges and supporting local businesses has never been more important.

While we continue to keep access to critical health and safety information about COVID-19 and matching local businesses dollar for dollar with our Advertising Match Partnership, we hope you will support us (and encourage your friends and family to do the same) through your print and digital subscriptions.

We are all in this together. And as we continue to help our readers, our local businesses and our community, we look forward to the day when we can put this behind us.

Jim Healy is operations manager and editor for the Statesboro Herald. He may be reached at jhealy@statesboroherald.com