“Books for Troops,” a new project by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs’ (GFWC) New Tampa Woman’s Junior Club (NTWJC) and Juniorettes will be officially starting in October and the club has three new business partners to assist with the collection.
“Arleen Andrews at Bangs and Blondes in Wesley Chapel and Anita Long at Business Ink Printing in Temple Terrace are our first two partners,” said project chairman Patricia Murphy. “Our partners will accept donations of paperback books at their locations throughout the month of October.”
Recently NTWJC member Diane Levine of New Tampa Well~Spa also joined the event and will be collecting books at the business, located at 26827 Foggy Creek Rd. in the Summergate Professional Park behind Sam’s Club (off S.R. 56).
The book drive is collecting all types of paperback books, although they cannot accept books about religion, the apocalypse or any type of pornographic materials.
“We are accepting ‘chick lit,’ action-adventure, suspense, mystery, comedy and comic books. Basically, any books that the Troops can read during their down time,”said Murphy. “I am so excited to have our first business partners in place.”
The Juniors and Juniorettes also have been getting help from other GFWC clubs in District 8, which encompasses Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.
“Initially this project was about collecting a few books from our members as a form of recycling, and to send the books to our troops,” said Murphy. “However, in the past few weeks, it has blossomed into a county-wide event with the help of our GFWC sisters in District 8.”
You might remember Murphy as the chairperson for the “Load ‘em Up” event last year which benefited Casper’s Cupboard, the food bank at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. That project started with the idea to collect a few bags of pet food from the NTJWC members, but it turned into a huge, day-long event which collected 1,400 pounds of food for the animals at the Humane Society. Murphy hopes that the Books for Troops event will carry the same momentum.
“ I thought this would be a perfect project that would encompass my belief in recycling while doing some good for those that fight everyday to protect us,” says Murphy. “ Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who feel the same way and are happy to weed out the paperbacks from their libraries to support our troops.”
For those who want to do a little bit more than just donate an armful of books, the Juniors are encouraging people in the community to collect paperbacks from their friends and neighbors and then drop them off at one of the business partners or call or email Murphy for donation of 100 books or more. The NTJWC also is seeking cash donations to help pay for the postage to mail the books.
The NTJWC Juniors and Juniorettes will be collecting paperback books at events like the “Trash to Treasure” yard sale in the Hunter’s Green community, where the girls gathered donations on October 1.
If you would like to volunteer or make a cash donation for postage, email Patricia Murphy at Murphy.Patricia@verizon.net. – Submitted to the Neighborhood News.
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