Local opportunities for getting involved in supporting our troops abound

Though it is often done quietly in our community, the Soldotna Rotary club is among many local organizations that keep the spirit of giving alive throughout the year in support of our troops overseas. Through the club’s “Troop Support” program, the Soldotna Rotary has been able to maintain a connection with the troops through monthly mailings of specific items that the troops report would be welcomed on their distant fronts.

In November, the club solicited donations for books to send to the troops. The outpouring of support in the form of both books and monetary funds to assist with postage was overwhelming. The first shipment of donated books went out in early December thanks to the community’s support. Since then a complimentary program has developed, it is called “GIVE A SOLDIER TEN FREE ALASKA BOOKS THIS CHRISTMAS” offered through Publication Consultants.

The package of ten free books does two things: Support our troops and show love for our state. The publishing company is giving away the books and doing all the handling. All they ask is that you donate the shipping, which is $8.95 per box and shipped Priority Mail. The company assures the public that the donor and recipient will be connected. They will mail the books to the service member of choice, or from a list they have compiled. They let the donor know who receives the gift package, and vice versa. These are all great reads, by eight Alaskan authors, all set in Alaska, a place people dream of visiting, a place far away from the war.

The Free Books for a Soldier is the idea of one of Publication Consultants’ authors, Mike Dillingham, who wrote Rivers: Diary of a Blind Alaska Racing Sled Dog and Rivers: Through the Eyes of a Blind Sled Dog. Publication Consultants has published more than 180 books, and several have received recognitions and awards, including El Gancho: A Saga of an Immigrant Family’s Journey out of Mexico, by Michael Travis, which won first place novel from National Association of Presswomen this year, and Icebound Empire-noted as one of the 67 most important books on Alaska by the prolific historian Elizabeth Tower. Tower has published six books with Publication Consultants. Several titles have been chosen for Battle of the Books, including: Gold Rush Runaway by Doug DeVries, Out on the Tundra and Down by the River by Sara Donkersloot, Raven Cove Mystery by Halene Dahlstrom, and Greetings Earthling by Amy Murrell-Haunold and illustrated by her sister, Cindy Pendleton.

For more information on the free books to soldiers program visit the site: http://www.publicationconsultants.com/gi.htm.

Donations can be dropped for shipment at:

Blazy Construction in Soldotna

Integrity Surveys in Kenai

KDLL Public Radio north Kenai

Or at the regular weekly scheduled meeting of the Soldotna Rotary Club held down stairs at Mykels in Soldotna at noon Thursdays.