New Seattle Atheists charity program: Operation Paperback
In addition to the ongoing SeasonLESS food drive, Seattle Atheists is working on a new project, in cooperation with Operation Paperback, which will provide paperback books for the troops. Donated books will have a little sticker inside to show that they were donated by Seattle Atheists. Jenny, who is running the project, will be posting a list of requested books, and we’ll be collecting them at upcoming meetings.
Operation Paperback collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Since 1999, we have shipped over 950,000 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.
To get a head start collecting books at home, here are some instructions:
Troops have requested the following genres: action, bestsellers, biographies and memoirs, fantasy, history, horror, mysteries, science-fiction, true crime. Do not send romances unless specifically requested by the individual! Our troops have received a disproportionate amount of this genre and they aren’t very happy about it. Be sure that the books you collect are in very good condition.
I emailed the organization today to ask if they ever get requests for books about atheism (such as Dawkins and Hitchens) or science in general.
This from Newby in Iraq:
“My Platoon’s received some books from this organization already and they’ve loved it! Thank you in advance for you support!”
Here’s a link for requesting books if you’re in the military or know someone who is in the military and wants books.
http://www.operationpaperback.org/troops_submit.php
Any further updates on this project? I have quite a few paperbacks that I would like to donate. How do I go about doing that (and making sure Seattle Atheists are recognized as the donor)?
Yes, a large shipment was made! Please bring all paperbacks to the next membership meeting on March 21st at 2 p.m., and give them to a board member.