Downtown Alpena will be one of the local stops celebrating Give Like Dolly Day on Friday, Sept. 25, with an afternoon event focused on supporting children’s access to books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The United Way of Northeast Michigan will host the celebration at Water Street Commons from 1 to 5 p.m. The event is part of a global day announced by the Dollywood Foundation to support local Imagination Library programs and honor Dolly Parton’s work encouraging children to read and dream.
What to expect at Water Street Commons
Community members can stop by to learn more about the Imagination Library and support the local program. People who donate $20 will receive a commemorative T-shirt while supplies last.
The event is intended to direct attention and financial support to United Way of Northeast Michigan, the local Imagination Library partner. Organizers are encouraging residents to give directly to the partner so more children in the community can receive books.
Supporters also are being asked to share how they “Give Like Dolly” and encourage others to support organizations helping children in their own communities by using the hashtag #GiveLikeDolly.
How the Imagination Library works
Through local partnerships, children from birth to age 5 can receive one free, high-quality book mailed directly to their home each month. Local partners raise money, build community support and provide the funding needed for book and mailing costs.
The Dollywood Foundation said local Imagination Library partners are the “true heroes” of the program because they carry out the work in their own communities. The partnerships help place books in the homes of millions of children and families around the world.
“If you can read, you can do anything, dream anything and be anything.”
Parton 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 what the foundation describes as the largest early-childhood book-gifting program in the world.
The program now serves children and families through local partnerships in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. The Dollywood Foundation and Dolly’s Estate continue to support the partnerships, resources and systems that make the program possible.
Give Like Dolly Day will be celebrated annually on Sept. 25. The new tradition is intended to reflect Parton’s emphasis on inspiring people to “dream more, learn more, care more and be more,” while supporting local organizations that help children.
For Alpena-area residents, Friday’s event offers an opportunity to meet with the United Way of Northeast Michigan, learn how the local program operates and contribute to monthly book deliveries for young children in the community.