Community does notice the newspaper

How will you know if what you write for your local newspaper will make an impact?

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman doesn’t know how its articles will affect people after the newspapers leave the pressroom. Staff members write articles about the community and for the community, but they don’t really know if that work makes a difference in the community.

My little brother, Willie Koonce, has Down syndrome and autism. Since Willie has this disability he can’t take care of his everyday needs. He relies on the people around him even for his simplest tasks, like eating or using the bathroom. There is no cure for his disability, so all we can do is try to make the situation more doable. This is why when my family heard that we could get a service dog for Willie, we were overjoyed. The only catch was we were responsible to raise $13,000 of the $25,000 it takes to train a service dog.

Throughout the process of getting Willie his service dog, the Frontiersman published three newspaper articles about him — one at the beginning of our fundraising effort, one during it and a follow-up article after we got the dog. These articles explained Willie’s circumstances and let people know how to help. The majority of the $13,000 came in small donations from individuals and families who live in the community. The $13,000 required was raised in four months, and later we raised another $7,000 for travel expenses.

When Wyatt Reinhart lost his service dog Abby, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman helped him, too. Wyatt has autistic tendencies, and Abby helped him focus and stay calm. The articles about Wyatt published in the Frontiersman let the community know he was in need. Many people helped look for Abby. After they learned Abby was dead, many people still called the Reinhart family offering their condolences.

“The Frontiersman has been very helpful. It gathers people when there is a need,” says Judy Reinhart, Wyatt’s mother.

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman has helped many other individuals, families and organizations. These are just two different families the Frontiersman has helped to change. One person alone may not be able to make a difference, but when more than one person is fighting for the same cause a lot can change. The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman took Willie’s and Wyatt’s information and put it in a resource the community could use and find.

Because of my brother Willie, I got the chance to see how the Frontiersman can help to change a life. I saw firsthand how the articles inform the community. I watched as our donations for Willie grew and grew.

Recently, I worked as an intern at the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. I got to see all the effort it takes in putting together the newspaper.

The people who write the articles in the paper don’t know if what they write will actually be effective. They don’t know if it will make a difference within the community. Often though, the people who read the paper only see the aftermath. I got to see both sides of it, and I would definitely say if you write for a newspaper, one article can definitely make a difference.

Kassi Koonce is an incoming senior at Mat-Su Central School and was a summer intern at the Frontiersman.