For the Love of Lit

I’ve always been very grateful for the men and women who put their lives on the line and fight for our freedom.  I also love books (obviously).  In honor of Veterans Day next week, I wanted to tell you about a charity that I heard about from a colleague who is also very involved with veterans.  It’s called Operation Paperback.

Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization that collects gently used books to send to troops stationed overseas and in military/veterans hospitals.  Everyone needs an escape and a book is a great way to do that, no?  The organization has sent 1.3 million books to troops since they began.  1.3 MILLION.  That’s incredible!

Here’s how you can help.  You can make a monetary donation - just $5 will ship a medium sized box of books overseas; $20 will help pay for the purchase and shipment of a box of high-demand genre books.  Any little bit helps!  You can also become a volunteer to send books directly to the troops.  Once you register with the website, you can tell the system what kinds of books you have, and you will be given a list of names/addresses of troops who are requesting those types of books.  You can also register to periodically receive an email with a list of special request books or genres.

I would love to put together a box (or boxes) to send over.  Anyone interested in contributing?  Please contact me via the Contact Me form or find me on Twitter at @fortheloveoflit.