Our webathon enters its final days. It has raised, since its March 8 kickoff, $300,000. Actually, “it” didn’t doing any raising — what really happened is that 2,603 generous people responded to our appeals and donated 300,000 (to be exact, as I write, $299,872 has come via website and mail). To meet our goal, we hope, pray, and ask for another few hundred — those who’ve intended to donate but haven’t got around to it, those who for years have meant to buy a round but their hand never quite arrived at the wallet — to consider giving right now to help keep the lights on, the keyboards clacking, the sanity flowing. We’ve but $50,128 to meet our goal before we end this affair next Monday at midnight.

It is just that, a goal, and one we’d be thrilled not only to meet, but to surpass. The actual needs of NR are twice that and then some. We make the case for alleviating them. If you find that the beliefs we defend and articulate are shared by you and yours, are worth protecting, are worth bequeathing to the next generation, and that such is best done through sane and honest commentary, analysis, and reporting, then please consider lending support.

And consider the situation of Donor 2,603. At the end of the line, he is looking for a No. 2,604 to befriend!

Maybe he’ll say to you what these kind donors have, their sentiments of kindness and inspiration appended to their generosity:

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• Susan sends along $100 and has us down to a peg: “I have come to depend on National Review for rational interpretations of what passes for news in the mainstream media. I also appreciate the different points of view to be found in the various articles.” We do indeed appreciate the intelligence of our readers, and we are so thankful to you for this.
• Scott antes up a C Note and gushes: “I Love National Review. Thanks for your sobering dose of Burkean conservatism, with a willingness to consider all sides of an issue. Keep up the good work.” Burke to Buckley is the rule! Thanks.
• Darin sees his comrades with $100 and echoes the views of many: “NR’s breadth and depth of deep and informed thinkers and writers who are also blessed with real world experience and wisdom is unrivaled. Please continue the never-ending battle for civil, informed discourse and education.” Which is right up there with truth, justice, and the American way! Thanks, Darin.
• John finds a Fifty and makes the donation, and then a reminiscence: “As a child I spoke as a child and did not always understand Mr. Buckley, whose vocabulary, oratory skills, and brilliant analysis were the most remarkable I ever heard. As a man, husband, and father of four children, I speak as a man and have come to understand Mr. Buckley’s enduring wisdom and his legacy that is National Review.” Love this! Thanks, John.
• Mark tenders a kind 100 smackers and states: “I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again. Now more than ever we need thoughtful and honest political discussion. To look at the good and the bad and to hold both parties/sides accountable to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. National Review is one of the few news sources doing that. Your website is the first one I open up in the morning with my first cup of coffee. Thanks for all your hard work and efforts. They don’t go unappreciated by your readership.” We’ll take the compliment but only if you take ours and double it. Indeed, can’t thank you enough for this.
• Michael puts a hefty 250 in the basket and reveals himself as a man of practical wisdom: “Despite the recent victory in the Mann case, I believe the need for support is as great as ever. Here are some funds to keep up the fight.” You’re right to believe what you believe, and we are right to be grateful for your camaraderie.
• Van shows up with $100 and a memory to rival the first kiss: “I vividly remember the thrill of experiencing the first issue of NR I ever saw in the reading room of my graduate-school library in 1974. That one issue won me over for life. Exceptional writing. Wit. Insightful commentary (and education) on culture, politics, government, economics, travel, history, and almost anything else you could imagine, all accomplished while still taking the Christian faith seriously. There was vigorous debate and disagreement yet without bitterness. Over the years, I would always read the last page first (especially when it was Florence King) then go to the first entry in ‘The Week.’ I sincerely believe that, but for the work of National Review, we would not have been able to maintain those freedoms that we currently enjoy. Keep up the good work.”

Van’s story is like that of thousands of others — NR meant something important. The experience was a flash, it was instant, it was lasting, and, if not life-changing, of great and positive influence. It was evident from the get-go: NR respected the reader, who sooner than later came to understand he was part of we happy few.

Surely you are part of that. So we ask — stating our sincere appreciation from the outset — that you help keep NR fighting, reasoning, advocating, and athwart-standing by donating here. You can send a check, of course, if that is how you do your kindnessing: Make it payable to “National Review” and mail it to National Review, ATTN: Webathon, 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, N.Y., 10036. Thanks ever so much.