VFW and American Legion Posts know, first hand, of the importance our programs for troop morale. If your post is unfamiliar with our process, please review this page.
Any VFW or American Legion Post can sign-up for our program and fulfill care package requests from deployed US troops. All addresses and requests in our database are from verified US troops serving overseas. These address are available to all of our Official Volunteers.
We added a new layer of security in 2005 to become an Official Volunteer. To gain access to troop addresses, a designated member of the post MUST register for a BooksForSoldiers.com account and then fill out and mail in the Official BooksForSoldiers.com Volunteer Application. (http://booksforsoldiers.com/bfs_volunteer_app.pdf) It is also available from the home page of BooksForSoldiers.com.
We realize this is a very cumbersome step, but we take the safety of our soldiers very seriously. Please be patient with us and help us with these important security measures.
Posts usually work with groups of soldiers instead of singular troops. Our group request page lists a lot of bases, hospitals, ship’s libraries and units that could use your help. Many posts start a donation box where members can place purchased books or unwanted books, DVDs or magazines from home. Also consider a donation jar to collect for postage. Paperback books are better than hardback because they are lighter, require less postage and are more easily carried on missions.
Once you have your book donations in hand, arrange plan a packing party at your post to help pack the books and other care package items. If you use flat rate boxes form the post office, the boxes are free. Please keep all packages under 25 pounds. Don’t forget the customs forms!
Below are some general guidelines for any group.
Tell everyone. Send out an email, mention the project in a meeting, or send out a memo to everyone in the organization. Tell them about the site and let them get a good look at BFS; that helps drive enthusiasm.
Remember to collect funds for postage. Always check to see what is the most economical rate for you to use (media rate is great for sending boxes of books). Military bases no longer accept packages for soldiers so you may not drop them off there.
Build your care package. Collect the books and other entertainment or care package items (paperbacks, hardbacks, video games, CDs, and DVDs are all fine). You can place donation boxes around your workplace, place of worship, or meeting place. After two weeks, you will probably not get any more donations. Be sure to remind people of the troop support drive halfway through. It is also a good time to remind them to bring in spare boxes to ship and tell them of the packing party to come.
Get the boxes. At the beginning of the drive start gathering shipping boxes. Packed boxes that weigh more than 25 pounds are not recommended. The US Post Office will give you free boxes for shipping if you use their “Flat Rate” shipping program. We recommend their Flat Rate shipping program because you can cram everything you can in one of their Flat rate boxes and the postage will be the same. And, while you are gathering boxes, do not forget the shipping tape!
Get the customs forms. You will need to complete one for each box you send. Forms are available at your post office or you can order them online at www.usps.com. Especially if you are in a more rural area, you may need to go to several post offices to get enough. Our local post offices are out of the forms quite often.
Get the addresses. This step should be saved until last; that way you will get the most recent addresses. You must be an Official Books For Soldiers Volunteer in order to access the soldier address database where we post the troop addresses. We know this is not convenient, but this is a security measure to help keep our troops safe. To become an Official Volunteer, visit the home page of BooksForSoldiers.com.
Have a packing party. Have your group sponsor a cook-out or other event and get everyone in on the festivities. After the hot dogs have been consumed, set up an assembly line to pack the boxes, apply the shipping label, and fill out the customs forms (use neat handwriting). The last step is to drive the boxes to the post office.
