Ring-ring-ring. Honey, its the Sierra Club!

The phone rings - and it's the Sierra Club Bay Chapter, your local Sierra Club. What to say?

Oh dear, they'll probably call back an hour later.

But they'll probably call again the next evening.

No, I don't believe that they're asking me for his number there.

The correct answer, of course, is d.

Seriously, why does the Bay Chapter make a once-a-year phone call?

The answer is simple. If a member joins the Sierra Club and gives $100 for dues, the local chapter gets about two or three dollars. The local work you read about in the Yodeler wouldn't be possible if we didn't raise money through this once-a-year call. (see "Where our money comes from - and goes"). We appreciate that you wish to assist the Chapter in its important work. The Chapter's fundraisers call you at most once a year (though other Sierra Club entities may call at other times), and it's always your decision to donate or not.

Your donation is put to work immediately if you use a credit or ATM card, and your data are always kept in a secure area accessible only by Club employees. If you give by check, the money is put to work upon receipt. As one who grew up in a family with a well-developed philanthropic tradition, I can assure everyone that making a donation of any size to a nonprofit public interest group is truly a rewarding experience.

Our callers are much like you, people with strong commitments to the environment who are only trying to open a conduit to other members. They specialize in bringing you information about our local conservation efforts and in answering your questions about the Chapter and Club. (If you do have questions, you will be impressed at how well-informed they are, and how effective at getting you any answers they don't know offhand.)

My favorite example of the Bay Chapter's frugality is our Yodeler editor Don Forman's "office", a spacious 25-square-foot, windowless room that Amnesty International would declare a form of cruel and inhumane incarceration. My initial viewing of it immediately brought to mind a death-row prison cell! (If Berkeley Codes and Inspections ever finds it, we are all in trouble.)

Editor's note. Yodeler fact checkers were unable to verify the above figures.

And our whole conservation effort works efficiently. A typical campaign is a bunch of volunteers, perhaps backed with a few hundred or a thousand dollars for necessary expenses. Our staff focus on giving support to volunteers, so that staff time can be multiplied in results. When staff tripled from six to 18 (due to your generous support), they found ways to fit into the same office space without needing to pay any increased rent. Whether it's $25 or $1,000, every penny is used as efficiently as possible.

Of the Chapter's 42,500 members, almost a third donate to the Chapter. Please join with them. Whether it's a modest $25 or a very generous $1,000, your gift makes a difference.

Since that fateful day in 1775 when Captain Ayala sailed his Spanish majesty's ship San Carlos into the Bay and claimed it for king and country, the Bay Area has seen more change than in the previous 11,000 years of Native American habitation. As members of the Bay Chapter we work together to maintain the integrity of our environment and proudly carry forward John Muir's legacy of selfless commitment to the betterment of our environment for generations to come, as long as the flowers bloom and the birds sing.

Richard Kibsgaard