Template:2010/KartikaLetterB/en

If you have knowledge, why keep it to yourself? You must share it.

I started writing Wikipedia to take away the sad feeling I had whenever I searched for a general and important article that didn’t exist yet in my language.

So, I decided to contribute a little. I didn’t know it at first, but I was joining a community of volunteers across the world who created Wikipedia one edit at a time for the simple purpose of sharing. You are part of our community. And today I’m asking you to protect and sustain Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is the 5th most visited website in the world. People trust it because it is created and supported by volunteers whose only agenda is to make all knowledge free. When you visit, you don't see ads or the logo of a big media corporation.

Even though it's a tiny, tiny fraction of what other major websites spend, it does take money to run Wikipedia's servers and to pay a small handful of staff. Every year around this time, people who value Wikipedia step forward and donate $50, $25, $10 or even $1 to keep it free.

Donations have come from almost every nation. In some places, knowledge is an easy thing to get. But in many countries, access to education and to media is limited. Because Wikipedia is free, it is filling a gap for millions of people hungry for knowledge.

When you write an article or make a small donation to Wikipedia, it means you share something with all of the people in the world. More than six billion people on this planet are free to access this site without being disturbed by any ads, and without worrying about its independence being compromised. If we want to keep Wikipedia free, then we need to protect it.

We don’t need a superhero to change the world. We just need people like you who support Wikipedia. With your help, Wikipedia will continue to make history as the largest free encyclopedia in everyone’s language.

I hope I have inspired you to act. Please make a donation to Wikipedia today.

Thank you,

Kartika,

Jakarta, Indonesia