Books for Boots is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides books, movies, cd's, puzzles, approved craft items, and more to all members of the military - including injured recruits, veterans, and military children - for free, always. Books to Boots came to life after my oldest daughter, Mackayla, found herself injured with stress fractures after about four weeks of basic training in the Marines in Spring of 2023. What I realized through my daughter’s experience is that when these injured recruits are placed in Romeo, they have approximately two weeks before they will receive any comfort items (books, craft items, etc) from family members. It takes about that long for families to receive their recruits’ new address and to be able to gather items and ship via USPS to the address given. And that’s if the family is even able to send items. Some can’t because they just can’t afford to do so. I was informed that the community library for injured recruits was very low on books. This really bothered me and I wanted to help change this and support these medical rehab units. I reached out through various channels at Parris Island and got approval for sending books. I also came to realize that recruits could use movies and music CD’s. These are obviously at the discretion of the drill instructors and commanding officers and are often used as good behavior incentives. Some recruits prefer to do small crafts during their increased daily down time, and I thought that Books for Boots could help in that area as well. Another insight I gained was that the need for books, movies, music, and craft items isn’t limited to the Marines, but other branches as well. I have contacted and received confirmation from some that items will be most welcome and appreciated. As items are gathered and processed, more basic training installations will be added to the roster to receive shipments. It is my sincere goal to help provide and ship out at least; 500 books, 150 movies, 75 music CD’s, and numerous crafts to each base. After each location has received this amount, the goal is to provide another increment in each and / or maintenance shipments every month to keep inventory of all items at a desired level. All items are stored in a community library of sorts for each medical rehab unit but will still diminish over time. All items come from individuals in the local community through local book and media drives and other events. Items are cleaned, inventoried, and shipped accordingly. I won’t be able to accomplish this alone. It will take more funds than I can personally provide to cover the costs of shipping for these set goals. If you find that your company would be willing to sponsor our organization, you can find more information on our website (https://booksforboots.org) or feel free to reach out to me anytime at [email protected].
