Books for Our Troops!

Okay - first off let me point out that this is in NO WAY a political post. I do not think that you need to agree with our government's actions to feel the need to support our troops.

Men and Women from all walks of life put their lives on the line every single day to protect our way of life. Which includes our right to read whatever the heck we want to! One of my fellow book lovers and bloggers - Felicia The Geeky Blogger - mentioned two very important websites to me on my post regarding overflowing shelves. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't know about either of these programs. Which is why I decided to publish this post highlighting both of these programs.

Books for Soldiers -

During the first Gulf War, several of my friends from school were in the reserves and were activated to fight the Iraqis. CNN reported that once the soldiers were deployed, they were faced with massive downtime and were restricted to their base due to the travel limitations set by the Saudi government.registered in North Carolina. Books For Soldiers is owned and operated by the Order of the Red Grail, a non-denominational, interfaith outreach ministry and is a 501(c)(3) charity recognized by the IRS. (PDF Approval Letter - 2.2 megabytes)

I am a voracious reader and at the beginning of the Gulf War, I had a closet full of paperback books. Books that were not being used. So instead of selling them at the used book store, I packed them up in small care packages and sent them out to all the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen I had addresses for.
Within a few weeks, I ran out of books before I ran out of addresses. Friends and family members began donating their paperback books and in the end, over 1000 books were sent to the Gulf.
After the war, we received many thank-you notes from soldiers who got one of our books. Unless it was time for them to fly back home, mail-call days were one of the most anticipated events of deployment. Regardless of why the military is deployed, the men and women of our armed services are there for us. They deserve our support and if we can make their deployment easier, then all the better.
BooksForSoldiers.com is a Red Grail charity, a Not-For-Profit corporation

All donations are tax deductible.

Operation Paperback

Operation Paperback collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Since 1999, we have shipped over 1.1 million books to locations around the globe.

Many of our troops are serving far from home and living in facilities that provide few of the comforts of home. At the end of the duty day, the opportunity to escape into a good book is welcomed. Every week we receive thanks from troops who are glad to be appreciated and remembered.
Our service members make sacrifices every day for our country. It takes so little to let them know that we appreciate what they are doing for us. When you donate to Operation Paperback, you will let our troops know that you support them, and you have not forgotten them.
Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, your donations to our organization are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

It is important that you carefully read over the guidelines for each program. Since you are sending books to war zones, you need to meet the Department of Defense's protocol for shipping items to soldiers. This is for the safety of both yourself and the solider. 

As an avid reader, I know how comforting a book can be. I can only imagine what it would be like to be in a place that doesn't even have a library. Many of the soldiers have hours and hours of down time, with little to fill that time. What better way to give them a piece of home than to send them a book. You can really make a soldier's day by telling they are important enough to us, that we take our time to send them a book! So please join me in this endeavor. Sign up to be a volunteer book shipper.