It's been great seeing all the Why Hats floating around town this past week! I've gotten supportive emails, Y-mails, ideas on the BBS. It's really amazing. The fact that Club Why has only gotten 28 members in three weeks is clearly not because Whyvillians don't care about this town (yes, I did get worried for a bit there). We must just not have done a good job designing Club Why.

So far be it for us here at City Hall to be stubborn. We know when we need to make changes. Over the week, I heard many suggestions, and two of the most common ones were:

1. make Club Why cheaper so more Whyvillians can contribute
2. let Whyvillians who can't contribute dollars join using clams

Well, your wish is my command. Here it is: now you can join Club Why for \$10 US instead of \$25. At this price, we wouldn't be able to send you real physical goods in the mail (otherwise, we'd actually lose money, and as we all know, that's not the effect we're after), but we can still do all those perks that are and will be in Whyville.

And, for those who absolutely cannot join with \$10, you can save up your clams and join the fun that way! It'll cost you 800 clams. It's not cheap, but it is doable. I checked; there are hundreds of you who already have more than that.

What this all really means is that supporting Whyville is not just about the money. It's also about caring enough to think, to participate, to discuss. The energy in the Club Why BBS and the Save Our Town meetings have really been boosting our morale here in City Hall.

Not only that, but your support and excitement has also helped convince a generous individual to invest in our cause by giving us some funds! And we're hoping that this investor's show of faith will in turn convince others that Whyville is something worth putting money into. Want to let our investor and potential investors know how they are making a difference in your life? Send them a thank-you note, and we'll forward it for you!

This does not mean that we are out of the woods! Investors aren't giving us money just so we can use it up and then turn right back around to ask them for more. They expect us to use this money to figure out ways so that we can learn to support ourselves. We can't depend on investor money forever. We need to be self-sufficient to really survive.

This means that we must continue to look for new resources, new ways of bringing in income to Whyville. So keep those ideas coming! Post to the BBS, wear your WhyHat, and talk to your parents about what you can do to help Whyville! Also, get the word out about Whyville! Tell your friends, your parents, your teachers, everyone you know! The more heads we have, the more good ideas there will be.