Volunteer Profiles

In this section, we share the stories of our volunteers in their own words.

"I've been meaning to tell you my special OpPaperback story from last month. One day I took 5 boxes of books to the P.O. to ship. Usually I try not to do more than a couple boxes, but the holiday weekend gave me extra time for packing. Another customer held the door for me as I carried each box in, then helped me move them to the counter when it was my turn in line. He was ahead of me and had finished his transaction, but stayed to help me with my boxes. Somewhere in there I mentioned it was books for soldiers. He lingered and asked questions about the books and the program, while the clerk processed the boxes. Then he handed the clerk his credit card and said he was paying for the books' postage.

"As he put his credit card away, he showed me his Air Force badge. He is a reservist, assigned to a unit at a nearby base. He said he had promised himself that the next time he was in a post office and saw someone sending items to the troops, he would pay for the postage. Little did he know he'd run across me and my 5 boxes costing over $20 in postage. The mail clerk enjoyed our little drama. It is a tiny post office, with just 2 service lines, and everyone hears everything.

"There was one more plot twist. I found out his name before he left, and it seemed familiar. After I got to work and logged on my computer, I pulled up the project phone list, and sure enough there was his name. We work on the same project, though in very different areas/jobs. His desk is in a cubicle zone I have walked past many times going to a conference room for meetings. There are a few thousand employees at NASA/Goddard, and over 200 people on our particular project. Luck, chance, fate, karma -- whatever it was our paths crossed the day he went to the off-site P.O. 2 miles from GSFC at the same time I stopped there on my way to work."

A sweet and funny piece from Volunteer Dawn in Indiana:

"My name is Dawn and I'm a ship-a-holic.

In the past year I have become hooked on sending care packages. It started with a couple of packages to my husband Kevin while he was still at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. It got progressively worse as time went on - the frequency increased, the sizes increased, I was always on the prowl for interesting care package paraphenalia.

Occasionally the compulsion to pack would overtake me and I 'd leave my house, still in pajamas, and head to the nearest drugstore, 7-11 or grocery store in search of "stuff." An entire room of my house became overtaken by care package "stuff."

The world around me appeared to me in terms of shipability. When I encountered something, I considered how it would fit in a box. Would it need bubble wrap? Is it something Kevin hasn't seen in awhile? From marshamllow circus peanuts left out to harden for month, to the newest seasonal Pez, and even the occasional milkbone- everything I saw was quickly asse ssed for its value in a care package. I even sent some dog hair so he'd feel at home.

But it got worse. Soon one man wasn't enough. I began sending to anyone overseas whose name I knew. Sometimes I found myself sending to a whole group of soldiers. My addictive behavior was out of control.

Then the unthinkable happened - I was cut off. Everyone I knew overseas is in Kevin's unit, and they are not receiving mail after November 1st. I began shaking and I knew the hallucinations were soon to follow.

Since I could not send packages to Kevin anymore and was going through care package - packing withdrawals, I found a site to feed my addiction.  It is www.operationpaperback.org and it has taken the edge off my craving.

At this site, you can volunteer to send books to troops overseas. They give you labels to put in the books you send, in order to help spread the word about the site. After completing a short identification form, they then send you the names of troops who'd like books. You can also donate postage or submit names of troops for recipients.

My co-workers have enabled my package-sending-addiction by giving me their used books and magazines to send overseas. They have given me the goods to mail over 150 books. But it's ok, I can stop anytime I want. Really.

Anyway, since I get such a joy from this program, I thought I'd pass it along in case anyone else wants to check it out. It's great for classrooms too. There are some shipping suggestions at the site - media mail, standard vs. priority, etc. And of course, if you have any questions I can be your hook up.

Peace to all. Dawn"

From Binnie Syril Braunstein of Pikeville, Maryland:

"Binnie wishes to thank novelist Susan Fraser King, author of the upcoming ) RUE OF THE SORROWS (February 2007), for her contribution of books, packing materials and postage, all destined for/or on our way for our troops.  Thanks so much, Susan!"

From Volunteer Ellie in Washington:

"Thought you would like to know what took place in our community of Moses Lake, Washington on behalf of Operation Paperback. Last week was our Grant County Fair. A five day affair that brings people from all over Eastern Washington to our Rodeo and other competitions. The Democratic Party here has a building on the Fairgrounds which we used as a collection site during the Fair and a place for kids to make bookmarks and write letters to our service men and women receiving our books. We have at least 250 bookmarks and another 50 cards for our troops!! and, each one is touching with all of the concern and directness kids can be so easy with."

From Volunteer Octa W. of Nebraska:

"At a garage sale last Saturday this lady had a box of 50-60 paperbacks all of which were Grisham, Patterson, science-fiction and other frequently requested authors. She had them marked 50 cents apiece. When I told her that they were just the type of books that I was looking for to send over to the troops and asked how much would she take for the entire box, on the verge of tears she said, "$2.00 for all."

From Volunteer CE:

"My dad was an Intelligence Officer in the Air Force so I was thrilled to find your site and donate some of his old paperbacks. I was so surprised to get a thank you note from Brandon S. today! Wow! Here's the note:

I am sending this letter in appreciation of the books you sent to me. Upon receiving them I passed them out to my fellow soldiers, the variety was great because everyone found something that fit their taste. We appreciate your concern and support. I would like to extend the thanks of my fellow battle buddies and myself to you.

I'm so proud to know him!"

From Volunteer Michelle K:

"I placed an order with a woman at thriftbooks.com --- I always order books for myself through them, and her name is Penny. I ordered 10 books from her and told her about Operation Paperback and she donated them instead of billing me! I thought it was a great gesture and wanted to share."

From Binnie Syril Braunstein of Baltimore, Maryland:

"I've been volunteering with Operation Paperback since June 2004. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of The Book Rack, a new and used bookstore in Timonium, Maryland, for donating hundreds of books to me for Operation Paperback. They even pack the books in small boxes, so I can use them for shipping. (They just piled 7 more boxes into my car last week.) These people are so wonderful - I called up one day, trying to fulfill a special request (sports books) from one of the troops. Later that day, I went to the shop, and found they'd pulled almost every sports book off the shelf. I told them I'd gladly pay for them, but they nixed that idea.

I'd also like to thank Randy Reed, co-owner of The Corner Stable, which specializes in ribs and crab cakes, in Cockeysville, Maryland (www.cornerstable.com). I asked Randy where she got her mini wipes, because I wanted to send some to the troops. She handed me a box of 1000 and told me to come back for more whenever I needed them.

I am very grateful for the contribution of all kinds of toiletries for the troops from author Diane Whiteside. Binnie is also very appreciative of the kindness of author Susan Zakar for donating an autographed copy of her book in response to a request from one of the troops in the Middle East. Also novelist Elizabeth Ashtress, who writes military romances, for contributing a very generous number of videos and several DVD's, for shipment to the troops. Thanks to Ms. Ashtree's contrbution, Binnie was able to ship 5 boxes (mainly videos) to a chaplain in Iraq.

Thanks again to all who help, and God Bless our troops where ever they are and keep them safe."

From Renee of Downers Grove, Illinois:

"We have recieved great community support for OP! Our local cable channel has run an announcement as a public service for 3 weeks as well as our local NewsPaper the Downers Grove Reporter. Both venues have made it possible for our small Montessori school to send books to the soldiers. The children and the community have enjoyed it. We have even had people donate money for the shipping and lables, as we are also a non-profit! It has been a wonderful experience, and I look forward to continuing it with Girl Scout troops and others."

From Susan, Milwaukee, WI:

"I first found out about Operation Paperback earlier in the year and was honored to become involved. I work at a call center for a utility company and when I put the word out to all the customer service representatives I work with what I was doing the response was tremendous. Needless to say - this has become a great outreach for all of us and it has been such an encouragement to me personally. It's good to be able to support our troops and to see others rally around this cause by contributing books or money to help me with the shipping cost. Being a prior servicemember myself - I am blessed and honored to support our troops any way I can. Thanks to all of you at 'Operation Paperback' - you have made this effort easy. God bless all of you. I will continue to ship books to our troops as long as they are serving this great nation!!!

From Brad, the Bookseller (Our THANKS Brad!)

"Hello-- While waiting in lines for the Five-College Book Sale on Saturday and Sunday last weekend, I worked the lines and distributed flyers ofering a brief introduction to Operation Paperback and also Books For Soldiers to over 200 booksellers and book collectors who were also waiting in line. Also, while attending an amateur-radio flea market this weekend, I distributd another batch of flyers to sellers and buyers. The majority of people I spoke with expressed interest or downright enthusiasm; almost all had never of Operation Paperback but wantd to know how they could help. Finally, we include an introduction to Operation Paperback with every book we ship to a U.S. address. Based on the warm responses I've received, I encourage volunteers to take advantage of "captive audiences" and introduce Operation Paperback."