Books for Troops Tampa Bay Inc

In May 2011, while delivering magazines to the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, I was approached by a young man in a wheelchair. He rolled up,  took my hand and thanked me.

This young man, he couldn’t have been more than 20 years old and had lost his leg in the war, was thanking me. He said “Being here, remembering has been so hard...the magazines help me get through it. Help me keep my mind off everything.”  We chatted for a little while and he said he wished he had an outlet like reading while he was deployed. He wasn’t living on base then. He lived in a tent on the outskirts of Kabul.

I thanked him for his service and as I stepped into the elevator I burst into tears.

When I got home I realized that this was a project that means something to people. It’s little but it makes a huge difference and that was the beginning of Books for Troops.

Since that day we have shipped over 150,000 books to troops around the world and provided 2000 to local veterans. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve those that do so much for us every day.

Patricia Murphy

Executive Director