It's been an amazing year - actually an amazing three years - for Oakland Local. 

Since we launched in October 2009, Oakland Local has had 1,273,110 million people visit the site, with the greatest number coming from Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley. Many of our stories - particularly those focusing on race, public safety and youth sex trafficking, have had many thousands of readers - and our coverage of food equity and access, arts and education and social justice consistently remain some of the most looked at parts of the site.

Equally important to us: Oakland Local's training programs and outreach in the community have led to both powering small businesses and community nonprofits to better make their voices heard and to a large number of community members - more than 75 in this past year - who have contributed op-ed pieces, photos and commentary on local issues to the site.

In partnership with Tech Liminal and the Alameda County Small Business Development Center, we offered more than 30 workshops and clinics this year on topics as varied as Facebook pages, Google analytics and marketing online. Three of our 2012 contributors - Steve Fisher, Pendarvis Harshaw and Vanessa Rancano - were accepted to grad school at University of California, Berkeley's, journalism program and two contributors - Reginald James and Fisher - won significant awards - a Google/AP scholarship and a Fund or Investigative Journalism grant, both with OL's support.

We did this all with a small and extremely dedicated team - people who have worked hard, often for little or no money - to create an Oakland that reflects what they believe in - economic opportunity, equity and speaking truth to power and being heard no matter what your age, race, class or sexual orientation. 

This is the moment to send a shout out quickly for Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, our managing editor, and 2012 editorial team staffers Juan Martinez, Jeannine Etter, Jennifer Inez Ward, Barbara Grady, Eric Arnold, Irene Florez, Steve Fisher and so many others - thank you all for what you do.

It's also the moment to recognize our training and revenue teams - Kwan Booth and CB Smith-Dahl, who have  brought so much to that work; Mary Fuller, Development Director; Margaret Lucas, Business Development Director; and Debi Mason, Marketing Manager, who keeps our events and marketing going. And of course, we want to thank some great partners: KQED, New America Media and The Media Consortium, in particular.

But this year we've struggled, and continue to struggle to be sustainable, and we've had advertisers, funders and donors who have literally kept us going. If I was going to ask for my 100 percent, it would be for you to realize how hard so many of the people who create these successes work and how little money they get for them. 

If you care about what we do and want to see us continue, the best way is to make a  tax-deductible contribution to Oakland Local tonight or during this holiday season. 

We will use your support to fund coverage of our city, train residents to be heard and help youth learn competitive tech and social media skills that can lead to real jobs. We have low overhead, passionate contributors and we all care about telling the real stories of Oakland.

Please give now to allow us to continue in 2013.