# 5143
As most of you know, I along with others in Flublogia depend heavily on the volunteer newshounds on the flu forums, and on ISID’s ProMED Mail surveillance system, for much of the infectious disease news we get each day.
These entities are not government supported, and rely instead on the generosity of their members and the public.
ProMED Mail each year at this time asks for financial help to support their reporting network. I’ve just made a small donation, and I would ask that my readers consider doing the same.
Similarly, FluTrackers is an all-volunteer flu forum that requires about $400 a month to keep going. Most months, those costs have come out of the owner’s pocket.
Both are tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations, and both serve as important early warning systems for infectious disease outbreaks.
I know money is tight this holiday season.
But if you appreciate the work being done by these volunteers, I would hope you would consider making a small contribution to help them continue their work in 2011.
