The Apopka Chief recently held its first-ever membership event this month in the downtown area. The gathering took place at Soulicious Vegan Kitchen at Hall’s on Fifth, where owner Tiffany Emerson and her husband Dejon served up delicious dishes to members and Chief staff. 

“On behalf of myself and my wife, Margaret, thank you for hosting last night’s member event at Soulicious Vegan,” member Keith Collier wrote in an email. “We both thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with you, to learn more about you personally and the mission and vision of The Apopka Chief.” 

Our vision is to continue delivering trustworthy local news as the Chief has done for 102 years. Our stories aren’t filled with rumors and conjecture. Just real, on-the-ground reporting by trained journalists who are in our community.  

The member event was a small but important start to a vital part of the Chief’s future. While our content is now free — online and in print — the Chief still needs reader support to be a sustainable news business for our second 100 years.  

Advertisers are a key part of supporting this local news outlet, but they cannot do it alone.  

Membership is a way to partner in the work of local news while also earning some fun perks. The perks are like our way of saying thank you. They include an exclusive monthly email, ticket and gift card giveaways, and occasional events like the one at Soulicious. 

But the biggest reason to become a member to is to help ensure Apopka continues to have a local news outlet we can trust. 

Again, member Keith Collier said it well:   

“The idea of membership with our local paper was foreign at first, but now it is very evident to us,” he wrote. “This method of supporting local journalism is much more than just to know what is going on — it is a way to build community as well. Having only been residents of Apopka for less than 5 years, we are always looking for ways to get to know our neighbors and relating to the people who call this town ‘home.’ I wish you all the best in continuing to reach central Florida with the idea of “local news matters.”  

A year ago, we conducted a reader survey, and you told us that you wanted more originally reported, local stories. I recently did a random spot check and found that a January issue of the Chief had six bylined stories in it. I counted in a recent issue and found 16 bylined stories. That’s a 150% increase.  

You asked, we delivered.  

Now we’re asking for your help to keep our work going. Will you become a member to help us finish the year strong? Just visit www.theapopkachief.com/become-a-member, or call our office at 407-886-2777 if you would like to learn more.