Send Us Vegetables and Other Ways to Support Geez

by Lucia Wylie-Eggert | Published 16th December 2019

wolfhawk CC, flickr.com/78125937@N00

I received my renewal notice a few days ago. I would prefer to make a trade; perhaps a few pasture-raised, farm-butchered chickens, pastured pork or beef, or even a nice box of veggies grown on the northern plains where the stresses of the regional climate produce veggies bursting with flavour, but we are separated by some 2000 KM of terrain and a border that would likely prevent the exchange from happening, so that option seems a little impractical. ;-) – J. B., Lanigan, Saskatchewan

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Dear Geez-ers (young and old),

This was one of my favourite comments that came with a renewal this year. I wish for baskets full of vegetables in exchange for magazines full of art, story, and hope. At Geez, we believe in sabbath economics and gift economy. We want to support one another’s skills and crafts in ways that constantly resist capitalism and offer alternatives to consumerism.

Yet, here we are in December, and I am tasked to write to each of you asking for money to support Geez magazine. I know that these asks do not go unheard because the Geez experiment has been funded by readers since its conception. It is a project given, received, and supported through love and community.

So, if you are able this year to give a donation large or small, trust that we will quickly shift that monetary amount into gift and craft and community.

How will your donation tangibly become community?
☆ Part-time salaries for Geez staff to fund childcare, Detroit-grown fruits and veggies, and housing in beloved neighbourhoods
☆ Honorariums for artists and storytellers whose work is crucial for justice (and who are so often underfunded)
☆ Rent in a church filled with social justice organizations and a soup kitchen that is being pushed against by gentrification – our rent helps hold down this corner as a place of welcome and justice
☆ 100% recycled paper, printed and bound by a publishing company in Winnipeg, Canada
☆ Recordings for Geez Out Loud, a new audio program that makes our content more accessible for diverse learning needs and varied lifestyles
☆ Study guides for communities to gather for deeper education, contemplation, and vocational exploration
☆ Holy mischief, resistance, and contemplation around North America that none of us can quantify in numbers or monetary value

So, fill our mailbox with fruit and vegetables, knitted hats, and homemade dish soap. Stop by with your painting and plumbing skills. Let’s sit around the table and share pots of soup and warm bread. In exchange, we will send you a quarterly, ad-free magazine at the intersection of activism, art, and spirit.

Well, ok . . . That may be a little messy. Perhaps at some point, we will organize to make such trades truly feasible. While we get there, we continue to be grateful for every dollar you can throw our way.

It has been a full and wonderful year getting our feet on the ground as a new editorial team. We can see the fruits of our labour scattered in the mess of our office – paper scribbled with red for our spring issue, a closet set with microphone, piles of our winter issue ready for your hearts, and scraps of ribbon as we mail out Joyful Resistance boxes.

It is hard to believe it was just a year ago that we began to make this transition. We continue to hold such gratitude for the Winnipeg crew who birthed and held this project for so long. We look forward to what is to come in the next year knowing that your support is literally what keeps this small operation going.