A Gloucester installment of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library went live June 1, spearheaded by Marsha Weatherwax, Pam Dishman Coleman, Nancy Dykeman, Stephanie Beach and Carolyn Haupt. The program mails one book each month to children from birth until their fifth birthday at no cost to families.
The group’s goal is to reach every child in Gloucester that is eligible for the program. According to U.S. Census data, there are an estimated 1,852 children under the age of five in Gloucester.
Weatherwax said there is a “big push right now to get the kids to sign up.” The group’s goal is to get DPIL books into family’s homes for the summer and encourage families to read to their children and for children at a more advanced reading level to begin reading aloud to their families.
“The more you read to your children, the better they read in the future,” said Coleman.
According to the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profiles for Gloucester County Public Schools, 88 percent of kindergarten students met the fall literacy benchmarks for the 2019-2020 school year.
“We’re missing 10-15 percent of success,” said Coleman.
The goal of the program is to instill better reading comprehension, develop language and hone some literary skills before these children reach kindergarten.
There are different books available for children as they reach different stages of development.
“They’re character-building books,” said Coleman.
Gloucester’s DPIL will attend events through the summer to encourage families to sign up for the program. The group will be at the “BBQ & Bags” event at the Gloucester Moose Lodge this Saturday, which is being held by the Exchange Club of Gloucester-Mathews. Members of the group will also be at the Middle Peninsula Classic Cruisers’ July 8 event, which is held in the Main Street Center parking lot.
The new group is also actively fundraising for the program. Dolly Parton herself pays for each book, but each local installment is responsible for paying the postage fee, which is $25.20 per child per year.
Gloucester’s DPIL has partnered with Tidal Wave Auto Spa of Gloucester in its latest fundraising endeavor. The group is selling $10 car wash coupons to raise funds to cover postage costs. Email Weatherwax at mweatherwax@allstate.com or Coleman at pam@pamdishman.com to preorder coupons.
According to Weatherwax, Mathews and Middlesex counties still need installments of DPIL. She said that the Gloucester installment could possibly take on those two counties if it received more sponsors.
Current sponsors include Gloucester Rotary Club, Gloucester Community Foundation, Abingdon Ruritan Club, Hoodz of Hampton Roads, Weatherwax Insurance Agency, and The Closing Shop.
A total of 340 children have so far been signed up for Gloucester’s DPIL. The group’s goal is to transition these children to the library once they age out of the program.
To donate, visit degoodfoundation.org and mention “for DPIL—Gloucester, Virginia” for funds to go to the local group.