The Long Beach Health Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a $150,000 grant to expand its bicycle and pedestrian education activities, city officials announced today.

Late in 2013, we re-launched Longbeachize. Since then, the tireless work of Brian Addison and Baktaash Sorkhabi has made this website a go-to source for Long Beach news about transportation, planning, open space, development and public health. All of us who have put any time into the new Longbeachize are thrilled at the reader response.

Seriously, you all are great.

But now it’s time for us to ask for your help to keep this website going strong into the future. Our goal is simple: rather than set a dollar amount, we are hoping to attract 31 new donors over the next month. That’s one a day, for a month. You can be one of the first, make your donation online today.

The 2014 budget for Longbeachize was built around two mini-grants from the Long Beach Community Foundation and La Vida Feliz Foundation. Those grants were one time deals. While we are also grateful for the advertising of Pocrass and De Los Reyes Personal Injury Attorneys; it has become clear to us that, for Longbeachize to maintain and grow, we’re going to need the support of our readers.

As May is “bike month.” It seemed appropriate to launch our first pledge drive here in May. We’re not offering a bunch of schwag to donors, the best we can offer is a chance to party with us in June at a Happy Hour that is currently TBD. If you want a Long Beachize t-shirt, tote bag, sticker, or water bottle visit our (just opened) Cafe Press store.

While Longbeachize is a part of a larger non-profit which also publishes Streetsblog Los Angeles and Santa Monica Next, any money raised in Long Beach will be spent in Long Beach.

Longbeachize has done great things in the half a year it has been publishing. It has broken news stories. It has pushed the debate on when and how the city should do an Open Streets event such as CicLAvia. It has held Long Beach Transit and Metro’s feet to the fire over deals with a shady bus supplier. It hosted what may be the first candidates forum of its kind, where top Mayoral candidates for a major metropolitan city vied to see who could be the most progressive on livability issues.

If you value Longbeachize, let us know. Now is the time to give to Longbeachize.

(Yes: all contributions are completely tax deductible.)