Gmail Philanthropy for the Troops

Since Gmail’s invitation-only beta launch in April, Google’s free e-mail service has become the hottest ticket on the Web, with techies setting up websites to swap (and even sell) the coveted invites.

Now, to help support U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, a small coalition of bloggers has created two websites–Gmail4Troops.com and GmailfortheTroops.com–to allow holders of Gmail invitations to “donate” them to soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving overseas. The one-gigabyte accounts are “more than enough for pictures, movies, sound files … all sorts of things that could help our servicemen and women feel a little closer to home,” write the organizers.

The effort is an excellent example of the organizing power of the Web and the generosity of the tech community. Have a spare invitation?