Press release from United Way of Central Kansas...
To celebrate National Book Month, the United Way of Central Kansas (UWCK) has been partnering with Barton County Young Professionals (BCYP) to host an online Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) fundraiser this October. For this campaign, BCYP & UWCK are seeking $30 donations from the public, which is the average cost to send monthly DPIL books to a local child for one year.
Thanks to five business sponsors, a pool of funds has been established to match the first 250+ children sponsored by a $30 donation to impact even more children in our area.
One of the fundraiser’s organizers, Regan Reif, shared that mid-way through the campaign, “we are at about 35% of our goal of $8,000 in public donations between the online GoFundMe campaign and checks received at the United Way of Central Kansas office.”
Anyone is welcome to donate online at https://charity.gofundme.com/bcypreads or by mailing a check to the United Way of Central Kansas (1125 Williams Street Great Bend, KS 67530). If you choose to mail a check, please make the check payable to UWCK and write “DPIL” in the memo.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that gifts free books to children from birth to age five in participating communities within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Republic of Ireland.
Over 25,000 free books have been delivered to children in Barton and Pawnee counties since the DPIL program was launched locally in 2012, with 550+ local children currently receiving books each month. The DPIL program delivers these books directly to children’s homes at no cost to the family. Families can sign children ages 0-5 up to receive DPIL books by visiting their local library.
Reif added, “a special thank you goes out to First Kansas Bank, Harper Camperland, The University of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus, Fuller Industries LLC, and Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. for their generous donations to match funds raised to support children’s literacy in our local community.”
If you have any questions or if your business or organization would like to donate, please contact the United Way of Central Kansas at (620) 792-2403 or unitedwaycentralks@hotmail.com.