Back in July we told you about how writer Lindsey Hoshaw was trying to raise $10,000 via community-funded journalism facilitator Spot.us to travel to the great Pacific garbage patch and do a story about it for the New York Times.

Well she did it. 116 people donated $6,000 (not quite the total she was looking for), but she secured her berth on the Alguita, traveled out to the garbage patch, and the story—along with her photos— is now in the Times.

Over on the Spot.Us blog, Spot.Us founder David Cohn gives a lot of credit to the New York Times for making the project happen. The paper responded to Cohn's initial pitch (on behalf of Hoshaw) like "a lean and mean startup," he says.

"In most Spot.Us experiences the larger a news organization the slower it is to get approval," Cohn writes. "In past attempts with main stream (sic) organizations I've sat in countless meetings only to spin wheels....

"My hat is off the NY Times," he says. The experience with them "contrasts with everything I've experienced with other larger media organizations and it a testament to why the NY Times is not just the paper of record—but also leading the charge into the digital future."