Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the readers of SurvivalBlog, for your generous support of Anchor Of Hope Charities, in memory of my late wife, Linda (“The Memsahib”.) You’ve donated more than $5,800 this year alone and more than $45,000 in all to the Linda Rawles Memorial Fund. This fund benefits a Christian mission and boarding school and other charities in rural Zambia. Anchor’s team from Indiana recently returned from Zambia, where they were busy putting new shoes on the feet of more than 9,000 children. (That trip was from November 24th to December 11th.)

Anchor Of Hope is a fully qualified 501c(3) nonprofit organization, with tax ID number 65-1316232. Their overhead, unlike many other charities, is minimal. To send a tax-deductible donation that can be claimed for 2011, please either make a donation via PayPal, or send a check dated and postmarked before midnight on December 31st. You’ll receive a receipt for your tax records in January.

If you are one of the millions of Americans that is giving charitable gifts in lieu of the traditional neck ties, slippers, electric razors, and perfume, then please select Anchor of Hope or Any Soldier (our other favorite) as your charity. Thanks, and May God Bless You and Yours!

Today we present another entry for Round 38 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 38 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.