| The notion to send paperback books overseas came from
the family of one soldier stationed in Kuwait and has grown
to a national campaign.
More than 300,000 books have been sent from businesses
and families in the United States to the military overseas,
many of those comprising the only "libraries" available
to the soldiers.
This project continues to grow by the simple act of becoming
involved, which is exactly what the Keller Williams Theurer
Team has decided to do.
Tunie Sparman said she read about Operation Paperback while
online one day, and decided she could easily get her office
motivated to help.
"Anything to do with the military -- I'm into it. I just
love it," she said. "And Keller Williams loves to help and
volunteer, so I thought this would be a good project for
our office."
Sparman said she hopes the Theurer team will be able to
make a significant contribution to the project, with the
help of the Wellington community.
Theurer Auction Realty will act as a drop-point for paperbacks
from Sept. 6 through 16. Books can be dropped off between
8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9 a.m. to
noon.
People or companies can also sponsor a box of books for
under $10. This will cover the cost of postage, and the
box will say it was sponsored by that donor.
Sparman said she would like to put newspapers in the bottom
of the boxes from Wellington, just to let the soldiers know
a little bit more about where the packages are coming from.
She says anyone sponsoring a box can bring in personalized
letters or notes of encouragement to the soldiers.
One volunteer posted a note online which said the soldiers
love it when the packages of books also come with hard candies,
Doritos or any kinds of powdered drink mixes.
Sparman said each book will have a printed Operation Paperback
cover label applied after they have been collected. This
is just a portion of the book work she will have to make
sure is taken care of as a volunteer in the project.
Theurer will work with Operation Paperback to sort the
books by the standards of the countries they will be sent
to. For instance, materials going to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
and other predominantly Muslim countries must not show any
female skin from the neck to knees or be critical of Islam
-- or any religion, for that matter.
"I think if they can read a book and get away from where
they're at, even for just a short time, it's well worth
it for me," said Sparman.
Paperbacks are requested to be new or gently used and interesting
to read. Romance novels are not requested by our troops,
but genres of current fiction, spy novels, thrillers, crime
stories, westerns, science fiction, fantasy and more would
be appreciated. Classics, joke books, and game books are
also requested.
After Sept. 16, Sparman says the Theurer team will pack
the books, letters and other goodies collected and mail
them to the troops.
"It could become costly to cover all the shipping," Sparman
said. "I hope businesses or people will cover the cost of
the shipping and that still more will donate books."
There are no headquarters, embarkation point or warehouse
to Operation Paperback. It is an organization of several
hundred individual citizens and small groups linked by the
Internet, almost none of whom have ever met.
To become involved in Operation Paperback, contact Sparman
at 326-7315 or e-mail tsparman@theurer.net
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