The United Way of Henry County and Martinsville is busy decorating lawns with lollipops to raise funds for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The agency’s ‘Lollies For Dolly’ program helps support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails a free book to children up to five years of age every month. At the end of the program, participants will receive a final book to prepare them for kindergarten. That book includes a message from Dolly Parton. Expectant parents can sign up for the program to start receiving books as soon as their child is born. The program aims to help foster a love of reading from a young age.
The program has been helping youngsters develop reading skills since 1995, and the local United Way has been helping to enroll children in this program since 2015.
“It’s something that is so needed in our community, and it helps children to have a first experience of books at home. They get something that’s personalized to them. They get to start their own library when they go to school. They get to fall in love with books before they even go to school,” Erica James, MHC Partners for Children and early literacy coordinator.
‘Lollies for Dolly’ allows donors to send a group of lollipops to a yard of their choice. Staff of the United Way transport the lollipops to their new locations, place them in the yard, and then pick them up when it’s time for the ‘lollies’ to move to the next address.
Both businesses and individual residents can receive the lollipops. The minimum donation for securing the lollipops is $27, with the option to donate more. Interested donors who don’t have anywhere to send the lollies, or want to donate under the minimum are allowed to do so.
Due to local success, a second group of lollies were assembled so that two yards could be decorated at once. All of the funds raised go towards Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Some local businesses that have participated are Pocahontas Bassett Baptist Church’s Little Angels Early Learning Center and the Clearview Early Learning Center. The Lollies have also made their way to a few local homes, and pictures of the traveling lollipops can be viewed on the United Way of Martinsville Henry County’s Facebook page. Many other requests for lollipop locations can be seen in the comments on the campaign page, with some residents asking to ‘lolly’ local schools.
Currently, the Imagination Library states that there are 1,675 local children presently enrolled in the program, and 3,985 local children have already graduated from the program. Signs to promote the fundraiser were made by MarKii Custom Prints, and each have a scannable QR code to link interested participants to the donation page.
James said several of the books in the program were a surprise, and ones that she may not have thought to pick up herself.
For instance, “King Jack and the Dragon,” by Peter Bently, was a book sent by the Imagination Library that James said her daughters fell in love with.
Outreach efforts in the community are ongoing, and geared to connect young children and mothers to the opportunity. Diane Smith, who is MHC Partners for Children and family navigator, checks in at the W.I.C. center twice a week to let mothers know about the program.
The Imagination Library is open to local children. Parents interested in enrolling may fill out a form online or send a form by mail.
If you need help setting your child up for the program or have additional questions, call James at 276-638-3946, ext. 113. Those interested in donating to the Lollies for Dolly campaign can do so by visiting the Martinsville Henry County United Ways website.
The local campaign runs until the end of April, and the agency is working towards its $1,500 goal.
