Looking Forward to Another Successful Year with YOUR Help, Please!

What a roller coaster ride we all have been on for the past few years, but St. Louis Genealogical Society has survived and thrived, and we are looking ahead to another exciting year of genealogy, with your help. We have managed to weather the storm of pandemic and rising costs because of our wonderful, loyal members and friends, and as this year comes to a close, we are asking you, once again to remember the society in your year-end giving plans. We have managed to accomplish a great deal this past year, due to your support and generosity, and we are excited about what is in the future for the society. 

Like many of you, we watched the St. Louis County Library Headquarters building come down a few weeks ago, leading to the loss of our regular monthly and Special Interest Group meeting space, but we have worked with the library to begin holding meetings at alternate locations. We have opened our office again, welcomed back many of our faithful volunteers (and several new ones), and have begun to hold many of our meetings as hybrid, which allows so many more of you to attend. We continue to be very proud of what our society has and will accomplish!

We Owe You So Many Thanks! AND Schnucks eScrip News

March 2022 will make two years since we had to shut our doors to visitors due to the COVID pandemic. We definitely thought that by now we would be back to “normal,” but, like everyone else, we are dealing with the reality of “new normal.” Throughout the past two years, we have strived to keep going in the best ways possible given that so many of our office volunteers are seniors dealing with chronic health conditions. We are rolling with the ups and downs of not knowing where and when we will have in-person meetings and how best to conduct them. We have mastered Zoom and are now in the process of learning how to do hybrid meetings so that we will be ready to invite you back to our office as soon as it is safe. (If you aren't sure what we mean by hybrid, be sure to take a look at our blog from 26 July 2021 on Zoom webinars.)

Please Help StLGS Move Forward in 2022!

Once again, as we approach the end of our second Pandemic Year, St. Louis Genealogical Society is encouraging all our wonderful, loyal members and friends to remember us in year-end giving plans. As we look back on where we have been and where we are going, it is obvious that only through your support, donations, and participation has our society been able to weather this long storm. 

We are so proud of how much we have learned during these past two years. Having mastered the basics of remote learning in 2020, we spent 2021 perfecting our ability to reach you via Zoom and planning for how to emerge from the pandemic in 2022, once it is completely safe to welcome you back in person. 

More Than Ever, St. Louis Genealogical Society Needs Your Support

The holiday season is quickly approaching, and, in this upside-down and frequently difficult and nerve-wracking year, we all will be delighted to bring some joy and celebration into our lives. However, it is also a time to think about how to ensure the future for some of our favorite institutions that have been hard-hit by the pandemic this year. The pandemic has made 2020 an especially challenging year for our society. While we were able to hold meetings for the first few months of the year, Trivia Night in early March was the last event that was held in person. The rest of the year has been a ceaseless effort of rescheduling and designing "Plan B." What we have been able to accomplish is only possible because of your memberships and donations.

How StLGS Members Can Help the Society

Recently, StLGS members received a letter from our president asking for donations to the society. As we approach the holiday season, we hope you will find some space in your end-of-year planning to support StLGS.

Unlike some larger non-profits, StLGS is funded completely by donations, dues, and sales. We have no grants or benefactors. What we do is only possible because of your donations. Every dollar that comes into our office goes towards fulfilling our mission: "promoting family history research by providing educational and research opportunities, offering community services, and collecting, preserving, and publishing genealogical and historical records."

Our all-volunteer staff continues to work tirelessly:

• Assisting researchers, answering questions, and greeting visitors
• Offering members free classes and lecturing and teaching throughout the community
• Scanning, indexing, and proofreading a wide assortment of original records
• Posting new data to the website, creating new web pages and informational flyers, publishing our Quarterly journal, and curating this blog, and our Facebook and Twitter feeds 
• Planning exciting programs and events for the coming year

Updated Technology

Because our website and our office computer network are so vital to our ability to communicate with the public, we must keep both entities protected and current. Website security is maintained by an off-site professional company, a fixed expense we willingly pay. Volunteers maintain the integrity of our office network. Next year, we will upgrade our office software and increase the level of security in our office network.

New Projects and Data

We also are actively exploring livestreaming, webinars, and other online options to expand our classes and meetings to out-of-town members. Our website continues to grow with the addition of more congregations, biographies, and other St. Louis-related material. You can always discover what is new by going to the New On This Site page.

How Can You Help?

Any amount you can send will be much appreciated, and we hope you will use the envelope you received to return a check or credit card donation. Your gift to StLGS is tax deductible to the extent allowed by current law.

Matching Donations, Amazon Smile, and Schnucks eScrip

Because StLGS is a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) organization, we qualify for matching donation funds from companies that offer them. In the past, we have received matching funds from AT&T, MasterCard, and Boeing. Does your employer support matching donations? If so, please think of earmarking your donation to StLGS that way.

For the past five years, we have also been a member of the smile.amazon.com donation program. If you are planning to shop online this holiday season, please log on to https://smile.amazon.com and choose St. Louis Genealogical Society as the recipient of your donation. It costs you nothing, but Amazon will donate a portion of every one of your purchases to the society.

In addition, Schnucks grocery stores still accept eScrip/Community cards. You cannot, however, use them with the current rewards program, but if you choose to forego your personal points, you can still designate rewards to go to the charity of your choice. If you have an eScrip/Community card, please select StLGS as the recipient of your points. They turn into dollars for us! You can learn more about the eScrip program on the eScrip website.

All of these programs are open to all. If you have friends or relatives who would like to join you in supporting the society, please encourage them to do so.

From the bottom of our hearts . . .

Shop to Support StLGS

(Thanks to StLGS treasurer, Viki Fagyal, for contributing this reminder of how we can all support the society by simply shopping!)

Did you know there are two super-easy ways to support the St. Louis Genealogical Society by doing what you do every day—shopping? Both Amazon and Schnucks supermarkets offer free programs that help support local non-profit organizations. As you may know, StLGS is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, so every penny we receive in donations goes directly to paying for the things genealogists want to see: informative new webpages on StLGS.org, better speakers, and new publications. We rely on donations to help defray the day-to-day costs of keeping up our computer network, maintaining our website, and keeping our office doors open. How can you help?

AmazonSmile

There are several ways you can make donations to StLGS that don’t involve anything more than designating the society as your charity of choice. AmazonSmile is a program we have belonged to for many years. If you are an Amazon shopper, please consider making your purchases via the Smile program. It’s so easy!


To learn more about the program, you can read the FAQ page. Then, from the list of charities at https://smile.amazon.com/, choose St. Louis Genealogical Society, and from that point on, whenever you make a purchase, do it through the link to smile.amazon.com. Your shopping cart, Amazon account, and personal details will be exactly the same. The only difference is that Amazon will donate .05 percent of your purchase price to the society. You may want to bookmark the smile link so you always start your Amazon shopping that way.

Schnucks

If you are a customer of Schnucks supermarkets, you can use the My Schnucks eScrip card so that a portion of your purchase will be donated to StLGS. If you don't have a My Schnucks card (or an older Community Card), ask for one at the customer service desk the next time you shop. Then register your card online at escrip.com/schnucks or by calling 1-800-931-6258.

Just show your card each time you check out and up to three percent of your purchase goes to StLGS. You would be surprised to see how these charitable donations add up with all of our members helping.

And, if you work for a company that has matching gifts, please consider designating St. Louis Genealogical Society as your charity.

Your StLGS membership and continued support help make the society better for all of us. Please consider using these free, convenient methods to give to St. Louis Genealogical Society.

Thank you so much!