4th Annual 8-Bit Salute Marathon Aims to Provide Troops with Games

Care packages have always been common for US and NATO service members whenever they are stationed overseas. They represent thoughtfulness, hope and, of course, care.Well care packages do not always come in the form of food, letters, and necessities. Sometimes they can come in the form of video games, which the fourth-annual 8-Bit Salute, a marathon Operation Supply Drop hosts, is currently striving to provide over the next day.

A bit about Operation Supply Drop:

Operation Supply Drop was founded by Captain Stephen Machuga, titled after the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 killstreak bonus, when you received the care package with the notification, "Supply Drop inbound to your location!" To quote the origin story:
 

“While in Iraq in 2003, our infantry company received a crate of third-hand harlequin romance novels donated from a library. We ended up using them for target practice on the test fire range, but it was then I realized: people back home want to help, but they don’t know what soldiers want.”

So in an effort to support the troops with what they truly enjoy, Machuga created the campaign, which has continued to grow since.

This is how the 8-Bit Salute works: People donate money to the drive, and the money goes toward purchasing video games for service members. Within only an hour, $147,578 was raised, about 10% the goal of $1,337,000. If you'd like to join in the marathon, you can sign-up, create a page, and ask friends and family to sponser you. If you register as ELITE, you will receive a slew of gifts depending on your contribution:

$50 - 3-Month X Split License
$200 - Official 2015 8-Bit Salute T-Shirt
$1,000 - 1 Month HeroCrate (According to site, it's a box of EPIC stuff)
$2,500 - 3 Months HeroCrate
$5,000 - Custom OSD GAEMS Vanguard Case (the BEST portable entertainment rig!)

All ELITE members additionally are entered to win 1 of 2 personal supply drops, which includes the option of an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, a GAEMS case, video games, a headset, and other goodies. All fundraisers who manage to donate or raise over $250 will receive an OSD Challenge coin as compensation.

Participants of the Salute marathon are currently streaming play sessions on Twitch and accepting donations. The Operation Supply Drop site also accepts donations, in the form of cash, current and previous gen consoles, Nintendo DS/3DS, PlayStation Vita, and Steam, Xbox Live, and PSN gift codes.

The 8-Bit Salute lasts until tomorrow, May 17th, 2015, at 12:00 PM CST, 1:00 PM EST.