Madera Sunrise Rotary Club sends books to the military

Madera Sunrise Rotary Club wants those serving in the military to know they are appreciated, according to Anita Damiano of the Sunrise Rotary Club.

“Through Operation Paperback, the club has sent 252 books to military personnel serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates,” she said. “Books were also sent to a veterans’ hospital in Washington, D.C.

“Because this Rotary Club has provided about 1,000 books per year within our community for the last four years, Operation Paperback was a logical way to say thank you to those serving overseas. The project started with a community paperback book drive coordinated by the club’s president-elect, Cindy Vail.” Additional books were donated or purchased by the Madera Sunrise Rotary Club. This year the club has also donated books to Dixieland Elementary School, Virginia Rose Elementary School, Caesar Chavez Elementary School, and to the Madera County Social Services for their family visitation room, Damiano said.

Operation Paperback connects volunteers with military personnel and veterans who have requested paperback books. Volunteers enter genres of the books they have and the number of addresses they want and they are given a name, address and the specific genres requested by each service member.

Information on how to volunteer to send new or recycled books to our military is available at operationpaperback.org, said Damiano.