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Barnes & Noble Donates Books, Toys And Games Valued At $3.4 Million, To Military Charities


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Bookstore Joins America Supports You Team at Andrews AFB Joint Service Open House
Y3K Grafix and Penske Logistics Truck Goods Across the Country

During the Joint Services Open House at Andrews Air Force Base today, Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, discussed its donation of more than 300,000 books, toys and games to America Supports You homefront non-profit groups and military-support organizations around the country. The merchandise, worth approximately $3.4 million, includes books, toys and games for all ages. In addition, Barnes & Noble announced that it is joining America Supports You, a Department of Defense program that highlights and recognizes citizens’ support for members of the U.S. armed services and their families. As part of the America Supports You program, Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com) has made a commitment to continue its ongoing support for members of the military community by developing a special Web site www.bn.com/asy. Every time a purchase is made through this site, a percentage of each sale will be donated to an America Supports You homefront group.

“On behalf of all the booksellers at Barnes & Noble, we thank America Supports You for this opportunity to express our support to our fellow Americans,” said Marie Toulantis, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble.com.

Operation AC, an America Supports You homefront group, was designated the primary recipient of Barnes & Noble’s donation; however, due to the volume of the merchandise, Operation AC approached America Supports You to make the goods available to other homefront groups and military non-profits around the country.

“When I was asked if I could accept this generous donation from Barnes & Noble, I immediately knew I had to share it with as many America Supports You homefront groups as possible,” said Frankie Mayo, founder of Operation AC. “When it came to trying to figure out how I could move all the books, toys and games, the first phone call I made was to America Supports You.”

America Supports You representatives reached out to corporate supporter Y3K Grafix, the lead agency for the America Supports You trailer wrap program (www.asytrailerwraps.com). Y3K Grafix, Vice President, Tony Rosenbaum, a retired Chief Warrant Officer of the United States Marine Corps, has been instrumental at organizing and managing the distribution of over 500 pallets of Barnes & Noble merchandise with the help of Penske Logistics, which donated transportation services for 22 trailer loads delivered to homefront groups and military bases all around the country.

“We’re so thankful to Barnes & Noble for their generous support for our homefront groups, and we’re happy to welcome this great company to the America Supports You team,” said Allison Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. “The donation of books for our military men and women, and the gift of games, toys and books to their families is an incredible way to express our nation’s support for members of the military community. And we especially thank Y3K Grafix and Penske Logistics for making all this possible.”

With over 250 homefront groups on the America Supports You team, the Barnes & Noble donation provides much appreciated supplies to a variety of military-service organizations. Books are being distributed to deployed service members through care package programs and to the wounded at military hospitals, while the toys, games and children’s books are being delivered to America Supports You homefront groups that focus on supporting the families of deployed and fallen service members.

To date, the following non-profit organizations have benefited from Barnes & Noble’s generous donation: Operation A/C (Dover, DE), which sends care packages to “adopted” military members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; Operation Shoebox (Ocala, FL), which has sent over 200,000 care packages since 2003; Camp Pendleton’s Armed Services YMCA and Military Outreach Ministry (San Diego, CA); Indiana’s USO for distribution to Veteran’s Medical Centers throughout the state; the Department of Veterans Affairs in Michigan; Camp Atterbury, a major troop mobilization station and training center that will distribute books to deploying soldiers; Ft. Belvoir’s USO chapter for distribution to homefront groups located in the Virginia area; and Adopt-a-Chaplain (San Jose, CA), which provides support to troops through outreach to deployed chaplains.



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