Along with countless businesses forging ahead through the COVID-19 pandemic, Volume One has been adversely affected by the human and economic costs of the crisis. In fact, we’re part of an industry that has been hit particularly hard: Thousands of media organizations across the United States – and the world – have faced furloughs, cuts, and closures as a result of the coronavirus and its impact on advertising and events.

So far we’ve held our own as best as we can, thanks in part to hundreds of readers supporting Volume One through our new membership program. And just a few days ago we learned of another bright spot: Because of our efforts to keep our community informed about the the pandemic and its impact, Volume One has been chosen as a recipient of a competitive grant from the Google News Initiative’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund. The fund, launched in April, has awarded grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 to more than 5,300 small- and medium-sized local newsrooms around the world.

Volume One fit the fund’s criteria of operating locally, serving a specific geographic community, and using the funds to support our diligent work. We were among more than 12,000 applicants from more than 140 countries, and we’re grateful to be one of the organizations selected to receive the grant.

You can learn more about the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund in this blog post from Google.