[OutVoice] "THIS WAY OUT" in *Critical Condition*

[This Way Out]

 Dear Friend of "This Way Out",

We cannot ask you passionately enough to give the fundraising appeal below your MOST careful consideration. We urgently need your support NOW to truly carry on for the next few months.  And please share this message with your friends! Thank you!

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

We're often asked, "How many listeners do you have?" For several reasons, typical radio ratings services just don’t help us answer that question. 

We do know that at least 200 local broadcast outlets across the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe and New Zealand now air our program every week, in addition to global short wave station RFPI. We’re also heard through satellite distribution to cable outlets and homes across the Asia-Pacific and Africa-Middle East regions, and hundreds download our podcasts each week.

"This Way Out" doesn't operate out of a state-of-the-art studio. We don’t have an office or a large paid staff. Our overhead is low, but it is absolutely imperative that we raise $5,000 for our production and distribution costs through April 2011, when we hope to receive an annual grant from a longtime supportive foundation. This need is real -- we have no other funds to "fall back on"!

It's the generosity of our listener-sponsors at this time of year in particular that has literally meant the difference between life and death several times during our more than 22 years on the air. We need your help now to keep this one-of-kind internationally distributed nonprofit weekly public/community radio show going.

•     “Just wanted to pass on my deepest thanks and gratitude for your show. I love the international coverage, the humor, the music -- I love it all!”
-H.C.
New York City

•     "What 'TWO' is doing is Needed, now more than ever. You gotta do what you're doing. We all need you."
 -A sensitive straight guy up here in the mtns above Albuquerque, N.M. 

•    "Thank God I found you! Thanks very much for your wonderful programmes."
-Sampson
Owerri, Nigeria

Each and every contribution, no matter how large or small, will make a difference! You can also support "This Way Out" through automatic monthly donations, from $10 to $100.  Choose your preferred DONOR LEVEL in the "Is Anybody Out There?" text at:

http://www.thiswayout.org

Or use the one-time "DONATE" button in the text at:

http://www.thiswayout.org

You can also postal-mail a check to us at P.O. Box 38327, Los Angeles, CA 90038. And if you’re in the U.S., your contribution is a legitimate tax-deductible donation under our nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization name of Overnight Productions (Inc.). We acknowledge every donation with a "thank you" email or letter.

(In case you're wondering why we don't ask for listener donations on the air, it's because U.S. federal regulations governing public/community radio forbid it.)

•    "I hear your program on headphones behind my closed bedroom door so that no one will know I'm listening."
-Email from an anonymous teen

Several heart-breaking suicides of teens who were gay, or who were perceived to be gay, have been in the headlines lately. Much of our programming reminds LGBTQ young people that life really does get better! "This Way Out" is often the only supportive voice LGBTQ young people hear. Please help us continue to share that voice with those teens, and with others around the world struggling to break out of their closets in a safe and supported way.

•     “I'm a 44 y.o. married male just confronting my homosexuality. I can't tell you what a morale boost your program is for me. I look forward to it every week. It's better than church.”
-Neal
Los Angeles, California

A core group of volunteer journalists and feature producers make our informative, entertaining and educational weekly programs possible. Will you volunteer now to help bring "This Way Out" to all the listeners who need us? Please don’t assume that enough other people will support our efforts -- we can’t go on without you, too!

Thank you! We wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons, and a healthy, productive, and pleasure-filled New Year.

P.S. - Read our informative blog at
http://www.twopodcast.blogspot.com/...
Become our Facebook fan at
http://www.facebook.com/ThisWayOutRadio...
And follow Associate Producer Lucia Chappelle's
timely tweets at
http://twitter.com/TWOradio
(There are buttons for each of these
at http://www.thiswayout.org)