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From the Editor: Games for Troops – The Results

BGN’s third annual Games for Troops drive brought in more than $1,800, thanks in large part to Thought Hammer‘s raffles at BGG.con. The generosity of BGG.con attendees brought in more than $1,300, and when combined with direct donations from BGN readers and $10 from every $25 BGN membership – well, that adds up to a lot of games being sent to U.S. soldiers serving in the Middle East.

Rather than do what I’ve done in previous years – namely, buy 1-3 copies of various games, then decide how to divvy them up later – I streamlined the ordering process to create ten identical packages, each of which will contain:

Pandemic
No Thanks
Cheeky Monkey
To Court the King
Escalation
Colossal Arena
Incan Gold
Wizard

Myriad Games in Salem, NH is kicking in another $500+ worth of games, which should be enough for three more gift packages, and North Star Games is adding a case of Wits & Wagers. Once the game order arrives at Myriad Games in early December, I’ll pack them up and mail them off, perhaps with them even arriving in time for the holidays this year.

Many thanks to all who donated!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on Nov 28, 2008 at 04:00 PM in From the Editor / 1243

Comments:

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Have any of the BGN members expressed any concerns about these donations to the US forces?
Sending board games to troops, them being in a stressful situation, could of course be regarded as a rather innocent act. But it could also be viewed as a support to the American intervention in Iraq, something that is -at best- highly controversial - at least outside the USA.

Posted by Kristian A. Østby on Dec 3, 2008 at 06:19 AM | #

Kristian, only a few BGN members and readers have donated games or funds to the Games for Soldiers drive, and they have typically expressed thanks to me for organizing this effort. I have heard no protests from others, but perhaps they are making silent protests by not renewing their membership or by spending their time elsewhere.

I talked about the reasons behind Games for Soldiers in a December 2006 column. Those reasons are apolitical and only of the “help a person who’s in a bad situation” variety, with my “spread games in all situations” mantra spliced in.

Eric

Posted by W. Eric Martin on Dec 3, 2008 at 08:44 AM | #

Thanks, Eric. I had not read that article. I sympathize with both your apolitical reasons AND your mantra.

Posted by Kristian A. Østby on Dec 3, 2008 at 09:23 AM | #

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