Give Like Dolly Day honors Dolly’s lifelong commitment to children and her Imagination Library
Sevierville, TN and Salisbury, MD – The Dollywood Foundation, home of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore (UWLES), their local affiliate partner, today announced Give Like Dolly Day on September 25, a global day dedicated to supporting local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Programs and honoring Dolly’s extraordinary legacy of inspiring children to dream big and develop a lifelong love of reading. As Dolly often said, “If you can read, you can do anything, dream anything and be anything.”
At the heart of Give Like Dolly Day are the thousands of Local Imagination Library Partners around the world who help carry Dolly’s mission forward in their own communities. Locally, United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore has been the program affiliate since 2012, providing over 620,000 books to over 20,000 graduates of the program. UWLES currently provides free books to over 7,300 children monthly in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties.
Dolly often called these local Imagination Library Partners the “true heroes” of her program. Local affiliates raise funds, build community support and work tirelessly to ensure children from birth to age five in their communities can receive a free, high-quality book mailed directly to their home each month.
Give Like Dolly Day will shine a spotlight on these local Imagination Library Partners and encourage communities to rally around them and other organizations helping children where they live.
“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, President of The Dollywood Foundation. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help. Give Like Dolly Day is an opportunity for people everywhere to not only support their local Imagination Library Partners but also other local nonprofits helping children.”
Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. What began in her home county in East Tennessee has grown into the largest, early childhood book-gifting program in the world, serving children and families through these local partnerships in five countries: U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland.
The program is made possible through the continued support of Dolly’s Estate and The Dollywood Foundation, which invest in the partnerships, resources and systems that empower thousands of Local Program Partners like UWLES. These local partners build awareness and provide the funding needed to cover the wholesale cost of the books and mailing for children in their communities. Together, this unique partnership helps place books into the homes—and hearts—of millions of children around the world.
On Give Like Dolly Day, the public can help by:
• Giving directly to the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore’s Imagination Library program to help more children receive books. You can give to UWLES here https://www.uwles.org/individualgift and select “Give Like Dolly” to designate your gift.
• Share how you Give Like Dolly and encourage others to support children in our own community, following UWLES and using #GiveLikeDolly, #UWLES, #UnitedIsTheWay.
“Give Like Dolly Day is about far more than a simple donation. It’s true, just $30 helps us provide a full year of home-delivered books to a local child. But what each gift really does is help Dolly’s legacy shine, opening young minds to exploring and learning, helping little ones meet early development milestones, and removing a financial barrier for families to have a home library,” shared Pam Gregory, United Way’s President & CEO.
Give Like Dolly Day will be celebrated annually on September 25 – a new tradition honoring the way she lived her life: inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more. ™
