Patricia Murphy was delivering magazines to the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, when a young man in a wheelchair approached her.
The man, who had lost his leg in the war, couldn’t have been more than 20 years old, she recalled. But here he was, thanking her for magazines.
The young veteran told her that reading the magazines at the hospital was helping him through a tough time, and he told her he wished he could have had something to read while he was deployed.
He wasn’t living at a base, he explained. He was living in a tent on the outskirts of Iraq. Having something to read, he told her, would have made a difference.
Murphy said she thanked the young man for his service, stepped into the elevator and burst into tears.
The experience inspired the Land O’ Lakes woman to launch Books for Troops. Now, in its third year, the organization has shipped more than 15,000 books to troops overseas and delivered 5,000 books to local veterans.
It has an annual drive in October to collect the books that it sends out all year.
“We are accepting action adventure, suspense, mystery, comedy and comic books,” Murphy said. “The most important thing is that they are in very good condition.”
Besides shipping books to military personnel overseas, some books are delivered to hospitals and nursing homes.
Because of military regulations, the organization cannot accept books about religion, the apocalypse or pornographic materials, Murphy said.
The effort is aided by an army of helpers, Murphy said, noting this year three Girl Scout troops from Land O’ Lakes are helping with the collection drive, and four scout troops from Lutz are helping, too.
“The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts come and they clean them and sort them by genre,” Murphy said.
Local civic groups and businesses also play a huge role in the effort. Many businesses help by putting out collection boxes. Wesley Chapel Kia, she noted, has been there from the beginning.
The storage unit for Books for Troop is at the 54 U Store in Lutz, which is a year-round collection site, Murphy added.
“All of the paperbacks get shipped to the troops,” she said. The hardbacks are delivered to nursing homes.
Any books that can’t be shipped or delivered because of their condition are recycled, so nothing is wasted.
Murphy has been amazed by people’s generosity.
“The first time I did it, I thought maybe I’d get 100 or 200 books,” she said. “But no, I ended up with over 5,000 at the first book drive.”
Murphy said the donation of books has outpaced her ability to raise money to ship them.
It costs $15 to ship a box of 30 books, said Murphy, noting her husband’s company, Psychological Assessment Resources, donates the shipping boxes.
While she can get enough books to satisfy requests, she can’t raise enough money to ship them.
Murphy thinks the books provide an excellent diversion for troops, when they have some down time.
“It is a really good way to get their mind off the heat, the bugs,” she said. When they’re staying in remote places, she added, “they don’t have television.”
The books go to war zones, but she’s also shipped them to such places as Japan, Germany and China. They also go to hospitals all over the country.
If anyone would like to volunteer, host a collection box, or make a tax-deductible donation, email Murphy at .
2013 Books for Troops Collection Sites
Carrollwood
Book Swap at13144 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.
Land O’ Lakes
Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex at 3032 Collier Parkway
Stagecoach Clubhouse at 3632 Mossy Oak Circle
Ballantrae Clubhouse at 17611 Mentmore Blvd.
Oakstead Clubhouse at 3038 Oakstead Blvd.
Wesley Chapel
Country Walk Clubhouse at 30400 Country Point Blvd.
Lexington Oaks at 26133 Lexington Oaks Blvd.
Meadow Pointe III Clubhouse at 1500 Meadow Pointe Blvd.
Precision Kia Wesley Chapel at 28555 State Road 54
Saddlebrook Resort Clubhouse at 5700 Saddlebrook Way
Seven Oaks Clubhouse on Ancient Oaks Boulevard in the Seven Oaks subdivision
New Tampa
Grand Hampton Clubhouse at 8301 Dunham Station Drive in Tampa
