United Way of Central Minnesota Imagination Library 5th Birthday

Close your eyes and think back to when you were young. Do you remember being read to as a child? If so, do you recall your favorite book?

You may be wondering why this matters? Well for United Way of Central Minnesota it all comes down to the ABCs.

A All children deserve to be prepared. Educators emphasize that reading with young children is one of the most important activities to prepare them for kindergarten.

B Books are essential. The more reading material available in the home, the better students' reading levels are likely to be.

C Cost of children entering kindergarten in Minnesota unprepared is approximately $113 million annually to school systems.

Five years ago this month United Way of Central Minnesota launched the Imagination Library Program. Imagination Library is part of our Success By 6 (SB6) initiative and offered in partnership with the Dollywood Foundation. Each month children, from birth to age five, enrolled in the program receive a free age appropriate book in the mail. Currently, more than 9,200 children are participating in Imagination Library.

In celebration of the 5th birthday, we are launching a special multi-year fundraising campaign for Imagination Library. United Way is inviting you to consider making a five year special gift commitment (beyond your current gift support) to help create a bright future for children in Central Minnesota.

A five year commitment is important because children enrolled at birth are in the program for five years. In fact, this year we will be graduating the first group of children who have been in the program for all five years; 1,070 children will be a part of the inaugural 'graduation' class.

AnnElise Edeburn, mother of Theo, explains how Imagination Library has reminded her of the importance of family time, "Sometimes we lose sight of what children need. Imagination Library books remind people that what kids want is to have time with their parents - not to just sit next to them and watch TV but to interact with them".

The Imagination Library program helps ensure that the ABCs of life are covered. Please join in celebrating our 5th birthday and make your gift today!