Well, folks, thought I would send out a short note on joining the RootsWeb group and helping support a very worthy cause. RootsWeb is not a profit making operation. It is run by Karen and Brian, both of whom have full time jobs and run RootsWeb as more-or-less a hobby. When MAISER crashed, they accepted the 1000+ Lists there WITHOUT requiring us Listowners to join or contribute. (The normal way anyone gets a new List at RootsWeb is by contributing $24 per year; that gets them 2 Lists.) Most of us Listowners did contribute (at least the minimum, but some much more) and some subscribers sent in contributions. Since the 1000+ Lists were added, Karen and Brian have had to install new servers, upgrade the software, etc., all at their own expense. They are in no way funded by ANY governmental agency, nor any charitable organization. They've spent more than $20,000 out of their own pockets. So, if any of you out there can send in a few bucks, it would sure help out. Send as little or as much as you feel you can afford. ALL contributions are greatly appreciated. Here is a recent post by Brian Leverich about RootsWeb funding: (You will find a snail-mail address at the bottom if any are interested in contributing.) SgtGeorge ***************************************************** RootsWeb has *no* "main sponsoring org". No university, no government agency, no gensoc, no business, nobody but *you*. We are *entirely* supported by voluntary contributions. Our hardware and bandwidth budget for the last year was in the neighborhood of $60,000, of which about two-thirds were individual contributions and the rest came out of Karen and Brian's pockets. Apple Computer also donated a server to RootsWeb, which augments the other 4 main servers we've bought. Karen and I have also donated our time as system administrators, as did the other RootsWeb folks. Next year's costs will be well over $100,000 and possibly as high as $200,000, depending on whether we have the resources to start buying datasets and uploading them for everyone to freely use. RootsWeb wouldn't have happened without the support of the Internet genealogical community, and we need continued support if we're going to keep expanding the services that are available to the community. Thanks to everyone who is helping us make this happen! -B [ BTW, please feel free to redistribute this to your lists. It worries me that folks don't realize that their contributions are are the *only* thing that keeps RootsWeb alive. ] ------- Dr. Brian Leverich Co-moderator, soc.genealogy.methods/GENMTD-L RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative http://www.rootsweb.com/ P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 [email protected]