If you are unfamiliar with BFS (BooksForSoldiers.com), it is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible charity that sends books, DVDs and other care package items to US troops serving overseas.
I started sending books to soldiers during the first Gulf War - many of my friends from college were in the National Guard and were called up for duty. I rounded up a bunch of old books from friends who were still here and mailed them to the Gulf. After 9-11 I knew I wanted to do the same thing again, but I knew I couldn't do it all by myself, so I put together a self-serve website to get the job done.
The way it works now is a soldier goes to the website and fills out the form on the front page and tells us the title of the books (dvd or whatever) they want. That request goes into our database of requests that is viewable by our army of volunteers. The volunteers read the requests and they fill the requests. "Oh yeah, I have that Stephen King novel, I can send it to that soldier in Kabul!" If a volunteer cannot fill the request, the charity's home office will. BFS has all the problems of a small charity and a dot com start-up.
Initially I thought this would be a nice 6 week experiment and the troops would come home soon after. That didn't happen.
Six years and over half a million care packages later, BFS is facing closure. Last year we shipped around $2.9 million worth of aid and are set to do around the same this year. But it will be the last time unless we can raise $74,000 - the balance left to raise for this year's operational budget and it has to be raised by December 31st. Corporate funding dried up in 2007, we have already hit up the Fortune 500, VFW, American Legion, Masonic Lodges and every other group you can think of. But now it is your turn.
You can donate with a credit card via PayPal or you can donate via Facebook.
If you are more comfortable with a check, you can mail that to...
Books For Soldiers
2009 Fund Drive
Lowes Foods Drive #123
Lewisville, NC 27023
If you want to get involved with BFS before you donate, we encourage that. We do require a notarized application (download PDF here) be mailed in before we give you access to sensitive soldiers APO/FPO addresses - I know it is a pain in the ass, but it is required to help keep our soldiers safe.
At the end of the day we are hear for the troops and here is what they say about us...
Somewhere about a month out from my departure, I started collecting small promises. All of my friends, all of my family, places I would frequent, soldiers I recruited into the Army, all of them would offer these small promises to me. "When you leave, I swear I will send you stuff." "Write me with your address, and I will make sure I write you back." "If you need ANYTHING, all you have to do is ask." Maybe they felt obligated to say these thing. I can only guess. They may have even believed they were being sincere at the time. It's amazing how quickly people forget about you when you are gone. Out of sight-Out of mind is not just a saying. It's a truth. My wife writes me. She is very consistent. Once a week I get something from her. It really is uplifting. In between letters, I wonder what happened to everyone else.
I am not afraid of dying here. Death doesn't scare me a bit. Being forgotten scares me. If I pass on, will anyone remember me? So many people have passed through my live and have touched me in some way...Will they cast a thought in my direction?
I was a recruiter for just over 4 years before I came out here to Iraq. At the end of my recruiting time, I was tasked with escorting Generals from the Pentagon to attend funerals at Arlington National Cemetary. I attended too many of them...Hell, one is too many. I attended the funeral of a Marine I tried to recruit into the Army. His joining the Marines really was a loss to the Army. I hope the Marines know what they got...and what they lost. He was remembered well by hundreds of people. His funeral was a national event. It was tragic. So much potential lost.
I attended the funeral of another soldier...a Specialist. Besides the General and I, there were only 5 other people at the funeral. It was a beautiful although small ceremony. When all was said and done, his mother returned to Ohio. His friend, who was also injured in the explosion and was receiving treatment at Walter Reed, returned to the hospital. At the funeral, there were no fond remembrances...There was no testament to the life this man lived. It was so sad. It angered me in some way. It hurt me way down deep that Politicians and top Generals would show up for Bihn Le (he deserved as much recognition as anyone can give him), but almost no one came to mark the passing of this anonymous Specialist.
I consider that Specialist sometimes. Will that be how I end my time here on Earth? Will anyone remember me, does anyone care?
BFS cares. The Soccer Moms, Nascar Dads, the students, the Yuppies, the retired, the church-goers, the liberals, the conservatives, etc...All of you care enough to remind soldiers that someone out there cares for the sacrifices they are making. I hold on to the belief that at some point during that anonymous Specialist's tour here, someone from BFS or from Soldier Angels, or any other like organization touched that soldiers life. You have touched mine.
Last night I received two packages from BFS members. One was the book "The Action Hero's Handbook", the other was filled with snacks and horror movies...just in time for Halloween. I don't receive much here, so when I was told I had packages...plural...My heart did somersaults in my chest. I tore open the box right away and I handed out the Halloween candy like I was Santa Claus on Christmas Day. The Reese Peanut Butter cups were a hit! I saved just short of half of the candy for the night shift, and it was a good thing too, because by the time I dropped off my laundry and came back, all of the candy I left was gone. I kept some tootsie rolls for myself and let the rest of the soldiers devour the last of the candy when I came back into work for the night shift. Now I can enjoy some tootsie rolls while I learn to be a proper action hero.
It helps. Everything you send helps. The letters, the postcards, someone sent me a huge box of footpowder... All of it helps. Your packages and letters help me to not feel so isolated and removed from the world while I am here. Thank you for fulfilling the small well-meaning promises of those people who for one reason or another could not fulfill them. You guys are the best friends I never met. Everyone in my office appreciates what you do. Especially my Captain, who as it turns out, hoarded a bunch of the fun sized packages of Whoppers.
You guys are amazing.
RJ
US Army
As always, thanks for the packages. The reading material selection is always incomparable. The "6 pack" of Churchill was an impressive and very welcome inclusion. I have always wanted to read the set.
Our replacement team has already formed for training before deployment and their team leader came for a visit last week. I told him about Books for Soldiers and what a jackpot I hit when you drew my name out of the hat. He will gladly welcome a continued relationship with the Tower Library. I will provide a name for my replacement when the time comes if you want to continue to send items to this team location.
Talk to you again soon.
MAJ EV
I would like to take a minute to thank you for sending the package of books and magazines. They are very much appreciated. I have received 3-4 packages of books from "Books for Soldiers" in the past two weeks from generous citizens, such as you. I now have more books than I know what to do with. I have placed some of them in a Unit operated library so that they can be used by more Marines. The magazines and joke books are especially appreciated because we work long hours and the magazines work a little better for casual reading when you have 15-20 minutes to allow for distraction.
We are an HMLA or Helicopter Marine Light Attack helicopter squadron. We are in the vicinity of Fallujah and fly and fix Huey and Cobra helicopters. We have been receiving more and more similar packages and they really do increase the moral of our Marines. Many of us are from different parts of the country and have varying interests, so a wide range of reading materials always seem to find someone with that interest.
I individually appreciate the Nietzche book. I began reading a few pages of his work online a few months ago and have been looking for more to read. Thank you for looking for that particular author. I will begin reading it after I finish my current book.
As I have distributed some of the books and magazines that you sent, I would also like to extend thanks from the other Marines in my unit. The "Far Side" comics are a big hit. We are mostly aircraft mechanics and not engineers, but I think the "type" personality that you were referring to in your card is accurate nonetheless.
Once again, thanks for the support. It is nice to know that we have people like you back home.
JL
Gunnery Sergeant/ U.S. Marine Corps
First off let me say thank you to you and everyone else on BFS for the support that has been shown and done for the people in my unit. Seeing the packages that came in for them to make their holiday's better was a very uplifting moment. I wish you guys could of seen the faces of the few I did get to see when they found out a package was waiting on them. Not a single item that was sent went unappreciated.
My main objective was to ensure that during the holidays no one was forgotten about and thanks to the help of you guys that objective was met. I have nothin to change for the people that are on the list you have currently. As far as renewing goes I will leave it up to you guys. I don't want to seem greedy with all the amount of other soldiers out there outside of us that are in need of things as well.
We are on the downslope of our time here in Iraq now. A couple more months and thankfully we will be heading back stateside to be with the loved ones and family again and end this chapter of our lives.
Thank you for everything.
Sincerely,
JR
Camp Bucca
Please drop any questions or thoughts in the comments.
And thank-you for your support of our troops.
Storm Bear Williams
Founder
BooksForSoldiers.com
CollegeForSoldiers.com