Books For Troops Program Gets Much-Needed Financial Boost

A charitable books program that serves U.S. troops stationed overseas now has another $1,000 in funding.

The GFWC New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club has won Precision Kia of Wesley Chapel's monthly "Pay It Forward" event on Facebook, and the funding will be used for the club's Books For Troops endeavor.

Precision Kia selects a handful of charities each month, then allows Facebook fans to vote on their favorite charity. The charity with the most votes at the end of the month receives a $1,000 donation. Books For Troops was one of several charities featured in February.

“I’m doing my happy dance!" Patricia Murphy, project chair of Books for Troops, said in a statement. "The other chairities we were competing against are amazing too. I’m just so grateful for all the support from our Facebook fans.”

The Books For Troops project began Oct. 1 and has collected more books than it had anticipated: the goal was 1,000 books but, to date, they have collected more than 6,300.

“The New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club budgeted $1000 to cover the shipping costs for the project," Murphy said. "Together with an in-kind donation of postage from a local business we have packed and shipped 5,000 books. This donation from Wesley Chapel Kia will allow us to ship an additional 2,500 books to our troops overseas."

Want to learn more about Books for Troops? Go to the GFWC New Tampa Junior Woman's Club webpage.