Dear Genealogists and Sister Societies, On April 8, 2013 Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society announced its participation in the Preserve the Pensions - War of 1812 Project. The Society started with a modest $300 challenge to its members - for every dollar they donated, Root Cellar would match it up to $300. Collections are being accepted through June 2013. Members responded overwhelmingly - the goal has already been met. Will Root Cellar stop there? Probably not. Stay tuned for an update to our membership challenge. In the meantime, send your check, payable to Root Cellar SGS (note that it's for the War of 1812 Project), to Root Cellar SGS, P O Box 265, Citrus Heights, CA 95611. About the Preserve the Pensions - War of 1812 Project* The Project is a multi-year, $3.7 million nationwide fundraising initiative to digitize the long-neglected War of 1812 pension records. The original documents are extremely fragile and digitization will preserve the best possible image of each page. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) (in which Root Cellar is a member) is leading the fundraising campaign with the National Archives and Records Administration, Fold3, Ancestry.com, and the genealogical community have undertaken a monumental project to digitize the War of 1812 pension files—a fitting beginning to the bicentennial commemoration of a war which has been called our nation's "Second War of Independence." These images will be available to genealogy researchers and the public for free on the Fold3 website. Contributions to this project have already made these files available as digitization proceeds. The Numbers* •7.2M images to be captured •180K files will be saved •571K images now available (16%) •$3.7M to be raised (32% raised so far) Matching Funds by Ancestry.com Ancestry.com announced that it would match all donations received toward the digitization project. This means that Root Cellar's initial $300 in seed money plus the $300 in donations from membership will be doubled by Ancestry.com to total $1,200. At a cost of $0.45 per digitized page coupled with the Ancestry.com match, Root Cellar members have ensured that 5,400 pages will be digitized. Think about what other societies can do! The Greater Northern California Challenge Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society challenges all genealogical societies in Northern California to get involved with the Preserve the Pensions War of 1812 digitization project. Let the country know that Northern California cares and wants to support and be a part of this huge effort. Initiate a challenge to your membership. Or, support Root Cellar's effort. Inform your membership about the project and ask them to send a donation to Root Cellar's address mentioned above. All donations will be forwarded to FGS at the end of June 2013. The Northern California genealogical community has already participated in a large project - indexing the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. Now your support is needed in a different but equally vital way for the Preserve the Pensions War of 1812 digitization project. Any amount donated will help get this project closer to the finish line. *Sources: http://www.fgs.org/cstm_PreserveThePensions.php and http://www.preservethepensions.org/ Please share this information and challenge with your membership and friends. Contact me if you have any questions. Do let me know if your society will accept our Challenge. Thank you again for your support. submitted by Denise H. Richmond Publicity Chairperson Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Website: http://www.rootcellar.org Blog: http://rootcellarramblings.blogspot.com Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/dxr4q8y Twitter: @RootCellarSGS