Group needs help sending magazines to troops

The Lakeside-based Magazines for Troops nonprofit has been donating to members of America’s armed forces for six years and has become more popular than ever.

Unfortunately for the local operators, while the troops love getting magazines in care packages, donations to help have taken a nosedive.

Donna Chase, one of the leaders of the organization, said while the number of monthly boxes sent out has increased, the public interest in helping pay for postage continues to fall.

“We serve about 278 units,” she said. “And we just don’t have the funding to keep paying for it.”

New requests from the troops come in weekly, including a medical unit looking for some magazines Monday. 

This week alone, the volume has become such that the group is looking to fill 140 to 150 boxes for U.S. servicemen and servicewomen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East.

Shipping per box is a reasonable $12.35, but at the volume Chase and her compatriots send them, monthly costs come to more than $3,000.

“The magazine donation volumes have increased quite a bit,” Chase said. “One publishing company alone has sold 3,978 subscriptions for us, and there are others doing a smaller volume, not to mention donations at our local collection bins.”

This week, however, Chase is $900 short on postage to give the troops some gifts for the holidays.

“Our goal is to send a monthly box,” she said. “But again, we do the best we can.”

To find out more about Magazines for Troops or to donate, go to www.magazinesfortroops.com.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.