Postage donations needed to boost morale of deployed troops
courtesy photo
Soldiers who have received books, magazines and DVDs through Magazine for Troops pose for photo to accompany a thank you note for lifting their spirits.
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POLSON — Cash donations for postage are sorely needed to get thousands of magazines to deployed troops. The Magazines for Troops storage unit is full to the brim with contributions from people who use drop-off locations in Polson and Ronan, but those locations are not accepting any more until donations of cash become available to ship the boxes to 274 military units.
Cash donations for postage has dropped significantly after news of troops returning home from Iraq, according to Esther Gunlock of Magazines for Troops.
“We are currently needing $2,500 to $3,000 per month to continue to serve our troops,” Gunlock said.
People can participate in the Magazines for Troops Adopt-a-Box Program. A medium flat rate box through the United States Postal Service holds 37-47 magazines and costs just $12.65 to ship; the larger $15.90 rate box can hold 17-22 paperback books.
Because Magazines for Troops is a not-for-profit, 501c3 organization, all donations are tax deductible.
Magazines for Troops, an all-volunteer group, is heading into its seventh year of sending magazines and books to deployed troops.
“Since launching of the website April 2010, we have mailed in excess of 3,000 boxes to more than 1,000 units — we hit 1,000 this summer,” Gunlock said. “We get requests for 10 units per day, but cannot fill their requests without postage.”
A unit, she explained, is the one person the box goes to, but the magazines can be shared by up to 100 people per unit.
Local veterans Tomy Parker and Charlene Crenshaw were recipients of the magazines while deployed, according to Gunlock.
The troops appreciate the welcome diversion, and often write letters of thanks.
Catherine Washburn, Aviation Electrician’s Mate Petty Officer 2nd Class wrote such a letter on behalf of The Zappers of Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-130’s Aviation Electrician work center. In the letter she thanks Magazines for Troops “for your generosity and support throughout our long deployment aboard USS Harry S. Truman,” Washburn said. “We have received multiple packages filled with magazines, books, DVDs and cards. These have been passed around and shared with other work centers throughout the squadron and have brought morale and fun to a long and hard deployment. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and for all the hard work that must have gone into sending packages like these to units like ours.”
Donations can be made in coin jars set up in local businesses, mailed to the address below, or made online at magazinesfortroops.com and can be set up for recurring monthly donations through PayPal. Make checks payable to Magazines for Troops, P.O. Box 909, Lakeside, MT 59922, or call Esther Gunlock in Polson at 406-883-1517.
“There is so much love in this valley,” Gunlock said. “If everybody I know would donate a $1 a month, we’d have our money.”
