Please Give ⇒⇒
Our kids need you!
As of September '23
Over 500 children currently enrolled!
plus 167 have already graduated!
Just imagine if every child in Jefferson County regardless of family income received a book addressed to them, selected for their own age every month. How exciting!
Why we need to do this - Few young parents these days can get to a library regularly as much as they would like to. Life is busy. Times are tough. And for some, books are simply not in the budget. But no parent can resist joining in the excitement of their son or daughter, when Dolly's special books arrive in their mail free of charge with their own name on it.
Did you know - Reading every day to a child from birth to 5 has a startling positive effect on the child's success from kindergarten to college. Research has shown that vocabulary, attention and knowledge at age 3 predicts who will struggle with reading. When parents talk, play and read with their babies, they build the neural pathways for language and vocabulary which are 90% developed by the age of 3!.
Update
We've been busy...
We hear from moms and dads regularly about how much they appreciate the program and even more so, how excited their children are when they see the book coming through the mail addressed personally to them. Just think about the effect this program is going to have on the futures of the children of Jefferson County.
As of this date we have enlisted several partner organizations to help us with enrollment. They are Jefferson County Library, BookMobile which reaches the outer communities, Port Townsend Library, the County Health Department's WIC Program, HeadStart, OlyCap and Chimacum PreSchool. This summer our tent at Port Townsend Farmer's drew attention resulting in registrations and donations. We'll continue to appear at the Market next Spring and Summer.
Just Imagine - when we reach our goal, 800+ children in Jefferson County under 5 will enter kindergarten with a love of books and a no-fear desire for learning.
A very special thank you
to the Gold Level Sponsors in 2021 who helped us launch this exciting program for
Jefferson County kids.
Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
Cunnington Dental
Elizabeth Grobe Foundation
Lynette Jennings Design
Kiwanis of Port Townsend
Carol Wise - Caldwell Banker
The Port Townsend Leader
June 5, 2021
How we started in 2021:
53 Kids Registered
in Weekend Blitz!
We've now reached our first milestone of
100 children registered!
During the first few weeks of May, Sarah Westerman of Head Start and Olycap kickstarted registrations with 43 Head Start families. Then on Mother's Day Weekend, Rotarian volunteers staged a three-location blitz.
Registrations on site along with those coming in steadily through the mail since that weekend have now exceeded 100. An extra surprise - that little Alphabet decorated box pictured on the tables brought just under $800 in cash donations. We are well on our way.
We're getting ready to open registrations through the Jefferson County Library system, school libraries, Port Townsend Library and Book Mobile so children will receive books throughout the summer.
The word is out. Now we have to get serious about raising funds. On June 10 we are convening the DPIL Committee to develop a strategic Funding Plan for '21-'22.
In the meantime...as The Little Engine That Could says:
"I know I can, I know I can!"
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Dolly Parton believes that if you can read, you can do anything, dream anything and be anything.
Dolly's "can-do" attitude is exactly what Rotary is all about. And that is why our Rotary Club of Port Townsend has decided to be the Jefferson County Affiliate for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
And we need your help.
A donation of $25
buys a year of books for each child.
$100 will send books to
4 children for 1 year.
Port Townsend Rotary has made a long-term commitment, as Dolly Parton Imagination Library's Affiliate to bring to the children in Jefferson County under the age of 5, one age-appropriate book per month free of charge, no matter the family income. Children will receive 12 books per year, 60 books in total by the age of 5!
The benefits to the children of our Community will be felt not only as their children enter Kindergarten and early grades but as research has proved, well into their teens and adult lives.
Reading ability is the most important factor in educational success. Children who are read to beginning in infancy to toddlers who learn by repetition, develop early the basic skills needed to learn to read.
The free Imagination Library Books are selected annually by specialists in early childhood education including the classics as well as new favorites. Teacher and parent tips are included in each selection.
The impact on the lives of our children, their families and our local Jefferson County community includes: children will be read to, family reading will increase, child and adult literacy will improve, children will gain the skills fundamental to learning how to read, and children will enter kindergarten well prepared for success.
