Here is a guest post from Andrea Hoshmand McAfee of Operation Paperback -- Recycled Reading for Our Troops:
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.
Operation Paperback supports U.S. troops by giving them the opportunity to escape into a good book. Since 1999, our volunteers have shipped a total of 1.5 million books around the globe.
Every day we accept requests from U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who would like to receive a variety of fiction and non-fiction books throughout their time overseas.
Requests come from the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, Korea or even the middle of the ocean. Any service member is entitled to receive our free shipments of books throughout their deployment.
We fulfill those requests by shipping gently used books collected by our network of 14,000+ volunteers nationwide.
These volunteers search their personal bookshelves, yard sales and used bookstores for popular genres like action/adventure, military history, fantasy and science fiction.
Then, using our website (www.operationpaperback.org), the volunteers match the genres of books they have on hand with the hundreds of open requests from troops that we have in our system.
We provide our volunteers with the shipping address and mailing instructions. The process is pretty simple, and volunteers appreciate the personal touch associated with packing and shipping books directly to troops in need.
Over 90% of the books sent through our program come from volunteers across America (the remainder are specially purchased and shipped by volunteer staff at Operation Paperback).
Some do a one-time shipment; others involve their local church, school, or work place to do large book drives, sending shipments on a monthly or seasonal basis.
In the 12 years since we started, we strive to maintain our personal, grassroots origins.
Operation Paperback began when family members of Chief Master Sergeant Rick Honeywell sent a giant care package to Kuwait that included books. The books were quickly distributed and soon others began to ask for more.
We have since grown to shipping over 20,000 books a month overseas and also providing books to wounded troops and veterans here at home.
However, the Honeywell family still plays an active role in running the Operation Paperback program, and we encourage volunteers to involve their family and local community in support of our cause.
If you’re interested in supporting Operation Paperback, there are two ways you can help: Make a monetary donation or send books directly to the troops.
By making a monetary donation you will help fund the purchase and shipment of high-demand genres and other special request books.
As a volunteer shipper, you will collect and ship your own books using the addresses that we provide.
We welcome any support that you can provide! Visit our website at www.operationpaperback.org for more information.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the eBook technothriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which works with clients to attract more business. Read her posts at the company's social media marketing blog.
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