With the pandemic and its impacts of economic stress and isolation, protests, wildfires and a chaotic election season, most people are ready to see the end of 2020. Yet 2021 will begin where 2020 ended, with everyone at home adhering to the directives from county and state health officials.

As anxiety levels continue to rise in the region over the rapidly escalating number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, so does "pandemic fatigue" from being under lockdowns of different variations for more than nine months.

Our office continues to be closed to the public and our staff is working from home -- often while taking care of children or other family members -- making our work all the more challenging. Nonetheless, serving our readers during times of crisis or natural disasters with accurate and timely reporting is one of the most important functions of a local news organization.

But when our coverage is needed most, we are struggling financially. Like most local news organizations, our revenue from advertising is only a fraction of what it was pre-pandemic, and that was down significantly from a scant five years ago.

At the onset of this health crisis, we were humbled and grateful when hundreds of readers stepped up to help us by becoming subscribing members. The revenue was obviously needed, but our staff members also benefited from the message these new members sent -- that your local news source is important and its staff is appreciated.

That lifted our spirits and words cannot express how thankful we are.

We don't know how long this crisis will last. We do know that our business model was changing before this pandemic and the local economy will continue to suffer even after the shelter-in-place order is lifted. We need thousands more of you to become members or renew when the time comes. Subscribing members receive access to DanvilleSanRamon.com and all our sister publications, home delivery of the newspaper and other perks.

With your help, now and in the future, we'll proudly be bringing you important news about Danville, San Ramon and the Tri-Valley region for decades to come. Please join your neighbors in sustaining local journalism by subscribing today at DanvilleSanRamon.com/subscribe.

Our best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.