The United Way Brings Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to Washington County
This week's episode features an exciting partnership between the United Way of Washington County and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Program, aimed at promoting early childhood literacy. Join Fuzz Martin as he talks with Kristen Brandner, Bridget David, and Joe Pickler about how this initiative will provide free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five in Washington County. The program not only fosters a love for reading but also supports the developmental needs of young children, making a significant impact on their future educational success. With over 1,300 families already signed up just a month after the launch, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Tune in to learn more about how this program works and how it can benefit families in the community.
Takeaways:
- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program provides free, high-quality books for children up to five years old.
- The United Way of Washington County aims to improve community conditions through effective local partnerships.
- Research shows that children who participate in early reading programs improve literacy significantly over time.
- Engaging children in reading before age five is crucial for their lifelong learning and success.
- The Imagination Library program has already enrolled over 1,300 families within its first month of launch.
- Community involvement is essential to support initiatives like the Imagination Library for all children.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
My name is Fuzz Martin, and this is a show about positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin. Each week, I showcase positive people, events, and organizations, That are doing good in our neighborhoods. And this week, the United Way of Washington County joins me to talk about their new partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Program.
Yeah, it's super cool. I'm joined by Kristin Brandner, the CEO of United Way of Washington County, Brigette David, the site manager for Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, and Joe Pichler, director of finance and administration at The Threshold. This is an amazing program, and I guarantee if you have kids under five, or if you know anyone with kids under five in Washington County, you're going to be taking action as soon as we get done with this episode.
I know you're going to listen all the way through, because You love the show. With that, here are Fifteen Minutes on Imagination Library with Kristin, Brigette and Joe on behalf of the United Way of Washington County, right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
Kristin, Brigette, Joe, thank you so much for joining me today. So to start, could you please give our listeners an overview of United Way of Washington County's mission?
[:Um, it's the number one reason why people engage, the number one reason why people give to us. Is the fact that we are here to serve the local, the local community, our board of directors, you know, fully support and govern, so it's really about we the people and focusing on what's most needed here in our local community, which we believe we can get the best results with that.
The way that we're able to be a top funder of non profit community. Programs is the fact that we run an annual campaign every year. We're in the midst of that right now. We raised 1. 9 million last year. So we're hoping to get 1 more, to support some of our new programs this year. And then we're just effective.
We, we support over 25. programs. It's not a popularity contest. It's need based. We are here to support the nonprofit community as a whole to make sure that there's enough nonprofit programming so that this community can continue to really thrive.
[: [:One that, we're, we're really proud of, we really brought the community together to say what is the, the most emerging need happening in this community? And this happened right before the pandemic, and it was our focus on mental health. We realized there's not enough mental health programming right here in Washington County, especially from a non profit standpoint.
And so, we really had to, to take a look at mental health though and say, what's the biggest need, because there's so many it's such a large issue and there just weren't enough counseling programs for our youth Um there was waiting lists and we just didn't want anybody to be on a waiting list if they're in desperate need of help so we we, United Way, was able to develop two new programs through Catholic Charities and Youth and Family Project, and Catholic Charities helps all people, not just Catholics, um, but they have a, an incredible behavioral health program.
And so to bring them back to this community to be able to do programming, focusing, especially those that don't have insurance. Sure. And then Youth and Family Project doing group counseling for youth. It really is about just getting services to our kids right away when they're most in need. So that's an example of us just looking at a top issue and bringing the communities together for solutions.
[: [:We've been able to raise significant amount of money. And each year raising more money, we're almost doubling the amount of money we've raised in the, in the last decade, but really the sweet spot and what's most important is how we're able to fund local programs. We have growing needs, we have a growing senior population.
But also needs across the board for all ages. And so, really challenging ourselves to say, as a community, we want Washington County to continue to thrive. And the best way we can do that is to make sure we have enough programs for people in need.
[:What are some of those that United Way is currently focused on? I mean, we spoke, you spoke of a few of them, but what are some others?
[:You know, especially with so many retirements of baby boomers, our community aging, We've had so many great generations of leaders that have set a great foundation here in this community. But it's really the next generation we're trying to recruit, to get involved. And so I'm, I'm really proud of our emerging leader program at United Way.
It's something that launched, a couple of years ago, when Kevin Steiner, the former president and CEO of West Bend Insurance was our campaign chair, and he certainly saw the need to get more of our young professionals, a leadership role and engaged. And, and so it's since we've launched, we have so many different members that have come forward to the point that we actually have emerging leader alumni, and they're chairing the campaign this year.
I see very exciting.
[: [: [:So, welcome, you guys. So you have a, a new and very exciting partnership that we're going to talk about here in a moment. But when you decide to partner with some of the, new part, you know, take on some of these new partnerships, or Take on a new program, here with the United Way of Washington County being, you know, significant.
Non profit here in our community, what's the process for bringing, you know, making that come to be and what's the process of making that happen here?
[:Financial stability and health. We knew we wanted to launch an initiative under education. Early childhood development is just critical and important. There's nothing better than, getting our, our kids ready for the future. And we're also looking at, so it's need based, but we're also looking at long term impact.
You know, where can we really make a dent, really make a difference? Something that we know that is effective, that's working in other communities, is always something we look at. So it's a lot of different areas. And involvement, and this was one with our emerging leaders that we were excited that they really took a hold of, Imagination Library that we're going to talk about is something that is working in a lot of communities throughout, the Wisconsin and the U. S. and actually has gone worldwide, but our, neighboring United Ways of Oshkosh and Dane County, West Bend, Kewaskum. In Dodge County and La Crosse area, they've, launched this program a number of years ago and really have seen great success in getting books to kids.
[:So can you tell us how that partnership came to be?
[:And so as we talked to our board and volunteers, People got really excited as we talked about how this Dolly Parton Imagination Library program is effective in, in other communities in the state. And, and you could see people, at our board meeting were just like, this is a game changer. And if there's any ability that we can have and make an impact, in that early childhood development area, truly believe this is, this is a starting point and a way for us to do it.
Thank you.
[: [:And it's, it's really simple. You just go and sign up and books start coming in the mail and they're, they're really high quality books. I mean, there's a, there's a committee, with the Dolly Parton's Foundation that, you know, vets the books and selects them. So, you know, they're, they're really high quality books.
[:I mean, they're pretty cool. So what age, I mean, obviously this doesn't go all the way up to like 18. What age does the Imagination Library serve?
[: [: [:Look out kindergarten. Here I come.
[: [: [: [:So, you know, if you, if you think about it, kids that are read to when they're young, are able to read more quickly as they enter school and it just helps keep them, you know, at that age appropriate level to, to learn as they continue to grow through school.
[:Out loud, which is crazy to me. But it was the pandemic and we weren't doing much. And now her, she's nine now, and her, she's like 97 percent in the rating in the state. And I think I attribute that to every single day my wife reading to her could you talk a bit about why reading at an early age like that is so critical for children and lifelong learning, future success, things like that.
How does a child's experience with books prior to age five shape them in the future?
[:And then, you know, to piggyback on mental health crisis, so There's nothing better than getting lost in a good book, right? So, if we can spark that interest of reading and that love of reading at an early age, it gives, older youth that reading out, like, okay, they can jump out of reality for a little bit, take a break, read a great story.
Feel mentally energized and then get back to it.
[: [:And, and they all love to read. And I, I think that really stemmed from those, those early days.
[:How does that work?
[: [: [: [:Yes.
[: [: [: [: [: [:And with us just launching last month, we feel like we're off to a really good start. But certainly we want to continue to, to get the word out about this really valuable program.
[:How do people sign up to do this?
[: [: [:Dot org.
[: [:So, this year, you know, every year you can donate to whatever programs are, you know, important to you. And so, that would include this one. So, it costs 26 per child to give them 12 books for a year, so, which I think is very reasonable if you've ever seen, you know, the book purchase programs come home from school, they're a lot more expensive than that.
I would say
[: [: [: [:And so any, any way we can get, these books in the hands of kids, but also just focusing on that parental engagement and just how invaluable that is, is, is just really important and just important to Unite Away, important to this community. And we can't stress enough the importance of early childhood development.
You know, our brains are developed by 90%. By the time we turn five. So it just, I mean, I know as a parent myself, that's, that puts a lot of pressure on ourselves to say, my gosh, we got to make sure we take so many of these years. Don't take them for granted and how serious it is and how we can shape the future of our kids of this community.
And that's through not only this program, but so many great nonprofit programs that we have, with, partners that are helping in, in this area, but, certainly we hope we can, we can have an impact, long term with this program.
[:And you're obviously a huge supporter of families here. And, for an appeal to listeners, how can people get involved with supporting the United Way?
[: :And the last plug I want to give. is, to Dolly Parton. She is, she is just a special lady, and, and just a, a reminder, she, really has put literacy at the top and at the forefront of her charitable giving. She talks about on her website, if you go to Imagination Library, on, on the website, you'll see that, you know, she, she talks about her father and what a hero he was, but he did not have the ability to go to school and be educated.
And literacy has just become her lifelong passion and just really her give back to her dad in honor of him. And, I don't think there's anything better than, than, than that story and just wanting to make the biggest impact. And she, she's so giving to so many different charities. She just gave a huge amount for Hurricane Relief, but this is her, really her main priority signature project.
And we're just so proud to partner.
[: [: [: [: [: [: [: [: [: [:So these were really kind of a bonus for us, but for a lot of families, books are more of a luxury. And so. You know, if, anyone that can fund this program, you know, you could very well be providing books for kids that don't have any other books. So I think it's really important.
[:And again, for bringing this amazing program to our community, it's going to help, Children of all ages, income levels, well, of all ages from zero to five years old, but income levels and it will help them into their future. So thank you for coming in. Thank you for coming on the show and, uh, uh, really appreciate it.
[: [:Reading is such an important skill. And while slack jawing on a microphone is not as important of a skill, I like it. If you know someone who would make a good guest for this show, please reach out and let me know. You can email me fuzz at fuzzmartin. com. That is fuzz at fuzzmartin. com. Or you can use the Suggest A Guest form at fuzzmartin.com slash guest. That is fuzzmartin. com slash guest. New episodes come out on Tuesdays. Next week we talk about the Gingerbread House program to help families in need this holiday season right here in Washington County. So with that, I'll talk to you next Tuesday, right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
