NORTH EAST — Olivia Reynolds belted out “Jolene” several songs into her band’s performance Sunday afternoon during Family Funfest at Fairwinds Farm & Stables.
It was fitting, too, because Dolly Parton, who wrote and recorded that country hit in 1973, is the namesake of the fundraising effort that took place on that bucolic property situated several miles north of North East and a few miles south of Calvert.
The four-hour event, which featured live music, food, kids games and pony rides, served as a way for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Cecil County to generate funds to ensure that the 1,847 youngsters who are enrolled in the program, thus far, continue to receive a free, age-appropriate book in the mail every month until they turn 5 years old.
Parton started Imagination Library in her Tennessee hometown in 1995 because she wanted to create an opportunity for children to have books — even if their families face economic hardships, according to information on the organization’s website.
Her inspiration: Parton witnessed her father’s struggles with illiteracy and, because of that, she wanted to help others avoid them. To that end, Parton’s goal is to help children develop a love of reading. Funded by Parton and community partners throughout the United States, as well as ones in other countries, more than 254 million books have been gifted to approximately 3.2 million children since its inception, according to the official website.
Some states provide funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, but Maryland is not one of them, according to Danita Walker, a North East resident who is a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Cecil County volunteer.
“It costs $26 a year per child — so multiply that by the 1,847 youngsters that we currently have signed up (for the program) and that really adds up,” Walker summarized.
That translates to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Cecil County needing to raise $48,022 annually to support the local youngsters currently enrolled in the program.
Walker reported that the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Cecil County applies for grants offered at the federal, state and county levels, in addition to literacy grants offered by foundations and groups, to help support the cause. But mainly, according to her, the money to support the Cecil County literacy program that bears Parton’s name is generated through fundraisers and sponsors.
Every person who attended the Family Funfest event at Fairwinds Farm on Sunday, for example, paid a $10 admission, Walker said. The group also sold raffle tickets and 50/50 chances during the event, she added.
Although the fundraising is done by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Cecil County to help locally enrolled children, that group has no say in which age-appropriate books are mailed to the children, according to Walker. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which is based in Tennessee, mails the same age-appropriate books to all enrolled youngsters throughout the United States, after a committee comprised of teachers, psychologists and other professionals selects the books during a vetting process, she explained.
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