Eden Gives Back is a wonderful, community-driven program that asks you to donate those hard-earned Eden points for good causes. There have been clothing drives and school supply donations for needy families, in the past. When the tornado hit Joplin, Missouri and left the town devastated in its aftermath, Eden came together to raise $675.54 in donated points, with all of the proceeds going to The American Red Cross. In addition to all of that, the adopt-a-family fundraiser to help parents struggling to purchase presents for their children at Christmas-time in 2010 was a huge success.

And now it’s that time again! We have a new fundraiser with an open forum for suggestions from you!

As some of you may be aware, we have a few members whom have family members or spouses in the military stationed overseas. And anyone who has been away from home longer than a week can attest, being away can be draining at times. And even more so when it’s a foreign country and you have limited contact with those who remain stateside.

In an effort to give our hard-working troops a taste of home, we are asking for points donations and/or care packages to be sent directly from you to a soldier or a base of your choice. What are the points for you ask?

MAGAZINES!

I have found a wonderful, all-inclusive magazine e-distributor that will ship to military addresses overseas.

In addition to sending in your points or care packages, put on your thinking caps and start throwing out suggestions of magazines you think would be good.

Gaming, entertainment, hunting, fishing, snowboarding…just shout out (well, type and then post) names as they come to you! And while you’re at it, if you have a specific base you would like to send the magazines to, then list that in your comment also. Sadly, we can’t send the troops a bunch of adult magazines as it’s not allowed and would just be confiscated by officials.

Giving points is easy to do! Convert the amount of points you wish to donate into a gift card (for example: you would convert 500 points for a $5.00 value) and email the gift certificate number and the value to sam@edenfantasys.com, along with your Eden screen name.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting polls to let you, the contributors, decide which base we will be sending the subscriptions to and how we will divide the monies raised. There will also be an informational post on how to create and donate care packages to service men and women across the world. If you choose to send a care package in lieu of donating points, please be sure to submit photos of the contents and a little information on the who, the where and the why (you chose those products) to the Eden Gives Back blog.

The donation portion of this fundraiser will run from Monday, September 26th until Monday, October 10th, 2011. Suggestions for magazines and locations will be accepted until Friday, September 30th. less

Eden Gives Back is a wonderful, community-driven program that asks you to donate those hard-earned Eden points for good causes. There have been clothing drives and school supply donations for needy families, in the past. When the tornado hit Joplin, Missouri and left the town devastated in its aftermath, Eden came together to raise $675.54 in donated points, with all of the proceeds going to The American Red Cross. In addition to all of that, the adopt-a-family fundraiser to help parents struggling to purchase presents for their children at Christmas-time in 2010 was a huge success.

And now it’s that time again! We have a new fundraiser with an open forum for suggestions from you!

As some of you may be aware, we have a few members whom have family members or spouses in the military stationed overseas. And anyone who has been away from home longer than a week can attest, being away can be draining at times. And even more so when it’s a foreign country and you have limited contact with those who remain stateside.

In an effort to give our hard-working troops a taste of home, we are asking for points donations and/or care packages to be sent directly from you to a soldier or a base of your choice. What are the points for you ask?

MAGAZINES!

I have found a wonderful, all-inclusive magazine e-distributor that will ship to military addresses overseas.

In addition to sending in your points or care packages, put on your thinking caps and start throwing out suggestions of magazines you think would be good.

Gaming, entertainment, hunting, fishing, snowboarding…just shout out (well, type and then post) names as they come to you! And while you’re at it, if you have a specific base you would like to send the magazines to, then list that in your comment also. Sadly, we can’t send the troops a bunch of adult magazines as it’s not allowed and would just be confiscated by officials.

Giving points is easy to do! Convert the amount of points you wish to donate into a gift card (for example: you would convert 500 points for a $5.00 value) and email the gift certificate number and the value to sam@edenfantasys.com, along with your Eden screen name.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting polls to let you, the contributors, decide which base we will be sending the subscriptions to and how we will divide the monies raised. There will also be an informational post on how to create and donate care packages to service men and women across the world. If you choose to send a care package in lieu of donating points, please be sure to submit photos of the contents and a little information on the who, the where and the why (you chose those products) to the Eden Gives Back blog.

The donation portion of this fundraiser will run from Monday, September 26th until Monday, October 10th, 2011. Suggestions for magazines and locations will be accepted until Friday, September 30th. less

Of course I just used all of my points to make a purchase. I will either have to work hard to earn some points or I will just send my cousin another care package.

As for magazines, my cousin is a mechanic in the Marines, so maybe some car magazines? I don't actually read car magazines so I don't know any specific titles, but I know that is something that would interest him and some of the other mechanics. less

This is freaking awesome! Those folks love mags, two of the mags I buy always have pictures of our troops reading them. I know when my brother did his time over there, that's all he wanted.

Off the top of my head; Peterson Off Road, Hot Rod, Guns & Amo, Dirt Wheels, Popular Mechanics. less

This is a great idea!

Dwtim, thanks for posting the title suggestions. Many of us would have no idea where to begin finding good car magazines since we have zero to no experience with them!

Anyone who has familiarity with hunting and fishing magazines, please make suggestions here, too!

Also, please don't forget that we have women in our armed services, too. Some women's magazines would be appreciated as well. I'm not a magazine reader myself, so I'll let others make the suggestions. However, when I lived at home when I was young, my mom subscribed to Reader's Digest and I loved reading that . . . less

This is a great idea!

Dwtim, thanks for posting the title suggestions. Many of us would have no idea where to begin finding good car magazines since we have zero to no experience with them!

Anyone who has familiarity with hunting and fishing magazines, please make suggestions here, too!

Also, please don't forget that we have women in our armed services, too. Some women's magazines would be appreciated as well. I'm not a magazine reader myself, so I'll let others make the suggestions. However, when I lived at home when I was young, my mom subscribed to Reader's Digest and I loved reading that . . . less

Maxim and gaming magazines!! Haha!!

I'm going to tally up my points and see how many I want to donate. You can count on a big amount from me. I'm a huge supporter of the military. My whole family is in it somehow.

I'd do my part by adopting a cute military boy. less

Being a vet myself, I think this is a great idea. Thank you for starting this. I will be making my gift card up, and sending the information through shortly. Thank you to everyone who contributes, I know this will make a difference to all of the vets, no matter where they are. less

Thank you so much for your support and for serving our country! I know, I for one, certainly appreciate it. Do you have any recommendations for overseas bases, preferrably in the Middle East, or titles of magazines you think they would enjoy the most? less

I would suggest possibly contacting the USO for ideas on bases overseas. Since you may be looking at places other than the Middle/Far East (war zone), they can provide a list of bases that might be good. Generally, the bases in the combat zone, will forward the magazines like this to the forward operating bases (FOBs) because the troops there don't have the access to magazines and other items like that.
The U.S.O. is a good organization to check with because they are not government supported so they are not biased. When my senior center sends items overseas, we send them to a particular contact in Afganistan who then forwards them to other FOBs for us.
As to the types of magazines, almost all types will be welcome. Don't forge that we now have women serving there as well as men, and they like magazines also. The only caution is the type of magazine. Don't forget that these are Muslim countries and have their own laws. So far the magazines that I have seen recommended should be fine. less

I just got back from Ft Hood to welcome back troops from a platoon that we adopted last year. This year we have adopted a new platoon of 60. Just sent 60 boxes with blankets and goodies.

Magazines are a great idea, they enjoy anything and they trade the magazines and books that they get so readers dugest is a great idea. A lot of them enjoy science based magazines as well, and people etc, things that remind them of home. less

Would a magazine like Maxim or Esquire be allowed to send to the servicemen?

I know Playboy used to be allowed, but things may be different now that many of our troops are in certain very conservative parts of the world.

What about Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine?

I know My Man (although not in the Service) enjoys all of the above magazines. less

Everything I've read on the matter states that pornography is not allowed, so that would include Playboy for sure. In the more conservative countries, I would think that Maxim would be just as bad. I can't seem to get a definitive answer on that either way, though I am now in contact with the USO on the matter.

Thank you for your suggestions! less

Thank you. I wasn't sure what was considered "Pornography." I know they have good reasons for making those decisions, but Playboy got a lot of lonely men through Viet Nam. I understand, though. Esquire might be OK, though. The sports magazines should be OK. Let me know.

Also, to whom do we send the points? less