For going on 80 years, the Big Bear Grizzly has been a partner in building Big Bear Valley. We’ve chronicled the people, places and milestones that have shaped the community, preserving the past for the present and the future.

We’ve covered Big Bear High School football championships, school plays, students of the month, City Council meetings, Old Miners Days, Tour de Big Bear, snowboarding competitions and fishing tournaments. We’ve covered wildfires, staying behind when the call came for evacuation. We’ve covered epic snowstorms, using snowshoes as transportation to bring the news to you. We’ve covered floods, droughts, and a manhunt for a killer in our midst. And now we are facing a story like none other with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our team at the Big Bear Grizzly is working tirelessly to bring you the news that matters to Big Bear during these unprecedented times. Local journalism, specifically the Big Bear Grizzly and its publications, is part of the foundation and the fabric of a community.

As the local newspaper, the Big Bear Grizzly promotes the entire Valley, supports and promotes Big Bear’s businesses, is the eyes and ears of the community and shares the voices of those unable to speak up. The Big Bear Grizzly has been the trusted source for news and information for eight decades in Big Bear.

Our business relies on subscribers and advertising revenue. As you might expect, advertising revenue has decreased as local businesses have been forced to close during this unprecedented pandemic. Yet, the mission of local journalism providing news and information by a trusted source is more important than ever.

At the Big Bear Grizzly, we’ve suspended publication of the Grizzly Weekender, folding those advertisers into our weekly Big Bear Grizzly newspaper. We’ve closed our physical office, working remotely to abide by the governor’s stay at home order and help flatten the curve. We’ve increased our coronavirus coverage, which is free on our website. We’ve added coverage via our Good Morning, Big Bear morning briefing newsletter and via our Big Bear Now app. And we will continue to expand our coverage of COVID-19 during this emergency.

We know there are many Valley agencies and organizations providing information during the COVID-19 emergency The Big Bear Grizzly and our digital platform, www.bigbeargrizzly.net, helps bring all the information under one umbrella by working with our partners so you don’t miss any information.

If you believe in local news and that the Big Bear Grizzly is vital to the foundation of this community to provide honest, factual and up-to-date information, especially during a crisis, please consider donating to this fund through Local Media Association. The fund is being adopted by family-owned, independent news organizations across the country. We are #bigbearstrong, and we are asking for your support to help make our community stronger.

Every dollar donated goes toward news production at the Big Bear Grizzly. We are committed to covering the crisis and beyond to bring you the news and information you need to know when you want to know it. Whether you are a subscriber, a business that keeps your advertising dollars local, or with this tax-deductible donation someone who helps keep our COVID-19 coverage going, we sincerely appreciate our contribution.

All contributions help pay for the team and necessary resources to cover the impact of COVID-19 on our community, its people, businesses, organizations and agencies, and services. We will continue to cover the crisis as our Valley recovers and rebuilds.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts to yours for supporting local journalism and the Big Bear Grizzly.

Big Bear Grizzly - COVID-19 Local News Fund is a program administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36‐4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association. LMF is raising funds for educational activities; specifically, to educate the public on COVID-19 issues. LMF is providing funds to this news organization and many others to support this important educational project. All money raised by this effort will go directly to support COVID-19 reporting, to make sure the public has essential facts on this important topic.