As we enter a season when gift-giving is on many people's minds, here at the SWG, we want to recognize those volunteers who give their time and talents to our organization. The SWG is run entirely by volunteers. The reason we have been able to remain an active and relevant fandom group for going on eighteen years now is because of the energy and effort so many people have been willing to give.

If you enjoy the SWG and want to become more deeply involved, we are always seeking volunteers willing to commit various amounts of time and with different skillsets. This week, for the first time ever, we posted a call for challenge stamp creators. In the past, the challenge mods have handled making the stamps that are awarded to creators and commenters for our monthly challenges. This year, in recognition of our growing art community, we wanted to offer the chance to see more diverse offerings. If you are a photographer, traditional artist, or graphic artist interested in making a set of challenge stamps, see the linked post above for how to get involved.

Our volunteer page includes other volunteer positions that remain open. If you are active in Tolkien fandom on social media, why not become a scout and share the announcements, interesting discussions, and resources that you find? If you're on our Discord, a low-key way to help out is to scout for the Discord, crossposting from the #signal-boosts channel to the site.

We have two ongoing committees that meet on our Discord. Our inclusivity committee includes fans from groups marginalized in the Tolkien fandom and acts in a consultant role on inclusivity issues within the SWG. This role requires a very low time commitment but makes a huge impact, as this group helps us ensure we are meeting our expectations for ourselves on issues of inclusivity. Our newsletter team is the group of people called upon to help brainstorm and write the regular content for our newsletter. Reply to this email if you are interested in either.

If you'd like to get involved but can't commit to regular involvement, why not host an event? You can host a book club, a live reading, an instadrabbling session, or a reading of one of Tolkien's books (or a book related to Tolkien), or maybe you have an idea that we've never even tried before. Contact the mods to set up an event.

And of course there are many everyday actions that keep our group alive. Every time you participate in a discussion, challenge, or event; post a fanwork with us; or comment on someone's work, you do your part to sustain the SWG. Thank you all!