Wells County United Way celebrates anniversary with Imagination Library
By JONATHAN SNYDER
United Way of Wells County is celebrating its 20th anniversary partnering with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library with a fundraiser goal of $15,000.
Imagination Library donates books to every child in Wells County who signs up. They are mailed one age-appropriate book every month from the day they sign up until they are five years old.
“I’ve never found a kid yet that didn’t enjoy a book,” said Pamela Beckford, who started the partnership with Imagination Library. “They want to look at the pictures, they want to turn the pages, (and) they want somebody to read to them. It’s a great bonding experience between parents and children.”
From paperboard books to early childhood learning books, Imagination Library has a wide selection of titles given to children. While Wells County cannot control what books are mailed, Renkenberger stated that the Imagination Library keeps books on a rotation so that no kid gets the same book twice.
“Their very first book is always the same, and the last book they get is the same,” said Office Assistant Maribeth Harder. The first book is titled “The Little Engine That Could”, and the last is “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come.”
Imagination Library serves counties, towns and cities throughout the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. The partnership with Wells County started in December 2003.
“The Imagination Library has to be made available to every child within your service area … Not every book program does that,” Beckford said. “So many of them are based on income.”
Parents can sign their child up through a registration form at the Wells County Public Library or by following a link at United Way Wells’ website. The link is located under the “What We Do” tab, which has a section for the Imagination Library.
The impact of Imagination Library is felt throughout the area, with an estimated 1,000 children receiving books every month, according to United Way Wells Director Ben Renkenberger. Jeremy Penrod, who signed up for Imagination Library when his three kids were young, still holds fond memories of sitting in a rocking chair and telling stories to his family.
“There were quite a few different books … that we even talk about now, and my kids are teenagers,” Penrod said. “So it’s kind of cool that they still remember those.”
“That’s what these are for,” Renkenberger said. “It’s to spark that imagination system to move the needle for those kids that may not have had otherwise, especially in the early years.”
Renkenberger and Harder expect they will hit over 200,000 total books given to Wells County through Imagination Library. The fundraiser is meant to cover the monthly cost of administering the books to kids. It costs over $1,000 a month out of United Way’s budget to continue this program.
Since funding for the program is running low, the goal is to raise $15,000 by March 15. The campaign has been underway for about a week and has seen about $1,000 raised already.
Anyone who donates a minimum of $30 will be entered into a drawing for a prize package from the Fort Wayne TinCaps baseball team. The TinCaps donated four tickets for any regular season baseball game, an opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, a TinCaps hat and bag, along with a United Way hat and sunglasses.
Donations are accepted via mail or in person. A link for a digital donation is available on the United Way of Wells County’s Facebook page.
jonathan@news-banner.com
