Your Donations + NewsMatch = Essential Funding for the Non-Profit Peekskill Herald

Thanks to you, local independent news is alive and well and growing stronger

A idyllic winter scene at Peekskill’s riverfront.

By Regina Clarkin, [email protected]

January 25, 2026

The glitter and lights of December have given way to days of snow and chill. Here at the Peekskill Herald, we’ve closed out our fourth year of operating as a digital nonprofit news source for the city of Peekskill on a high note — thanks to generous donations from our readers and the business community.

As we turn the page to the new year, you, our readers, are one of the reasons we feel optimistic about our growth continuing in 2026. Your contributions during our annual NewsMatch period in November and December slightly exceeded the goal of $30,000. The broad support of the Peekskill community at large bolsters us and demonstrates that you clearly value what we do, day-after-day, bringing you carefully crafted stories about government, sports, culture, business, education, personality profiles and anything else that informs our quality of life.

We extend our deepest thanks to the following businesses for participating in our community match program: FlowerHouse 10547, Northeastern Appliance Service, Inc., Flat Iron Gallery, Copy Center Services, Tompkins Landscaping, JO’s Body Shop, Bruised Apple Books, Peekskill Coffee House, Taco District & Co., Domenic’s Cleaners & Tailors, Forever Yours Flowers and Gifts.

If you’re a business that wasn’t able to participate in the November and December Match Campaign and value the work we do, we’re happy to accept contributions throughout the year.

We also gratefully acknowledge the invaluable contribution of our monthly donors. Some of you have been with us since our founding in 2021. Your recurring donations are what we rely on, especially during those times of year when we are not receiving dollars that are doubled by a matching national funder.

On behalf of our staff at the Peekskill Herald, thank you for helping keep local independent news alive.

We are so grateful for your support and encouragement as we continue to grow the Peekskill Herald — the most trusted, reliable news source for our community.

About the Contributors

Regina Clarkin, Publisher

When the Peekskill Herald weekly newspaper ceased publishing in August 2000 it was the first time in the history of the city that there wasn’t a local newspaper. The award-winning weekly was often referred to as the ‘glue’ of the community. Founded on January 9, 1986 by Regina Clarkin, Kathy Daley and Rich Zahradnik with a $7,000 credit card line, the paper filled the void created when the daily Evening Star was sold to Gannett and moved out of town. Founding publisher Regina Clarkin continued to live in the Peekskill Cortlandt area and turned her attention to other life endeavors. Through the ensuing 19 years, Clarkin was frequently stopped in town and asked when she would start up the Herald again. In January 2019, Clarkin decided it was less labor intensive to deliver a weekly blog than a print newspaper so she began posting one story a week about life in Peekskill. After a successful crowd funding campaign in 2020, the Herald was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in July of 2021. Peekskill Herald is a digital relative of the former print edition, featuring many of the favorite aspects of the beloved Peekskill Herald such as old pictures, personality profiles and well written stories about newsworthy events.

Natalie M. Skvarla, Creative Director/Exurbanist Editor

Natalie joins the Herald with over a decade of synthesizing design and communications platform strategies for higher ed, corporate, and government clients, and a several decades-long love affair with telling our shared stories through photojournalism. A Finger Lakes native, she has called Peekskill home since 2017 and spends her time wrangling two small children while renovating a 1906 Victorian.