Announcing “Give Like Dolly Day” on Sept. 25, Encouraging the World to Make a Difference in a Child's Life

The Northern Virginia Imagination Library, the local partner to the Dollywood Foundation’s Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, encourages Alexandria residents to participate in Give Like Dolly Day on September 25.

Give Like Dolly Day is a global day dedicated to supporting local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Programs, like the NOVA affiliate, and honoring Dolly’s extraordinary legacy of inspiring children to dream big and develop a lifelong love of reading. As Dolly often said, “If you can read, you can do anything, dream anything and be anything.”

At the heart of Give Like Dolly Day are the thousands of Local Imagination Library Partners around the world who help carry Dolly’s mission forward in their own communities. The Northern Virginia Imagination Library is one of the newer partners raising funds to begin registering Alexandria’s children for the program in October.

Dolly often called local Imagination Library Partners the “true heroes” of her program. They raise funds, build community support and work tirelessly to ensure children from birth to age five in their communities can receive a free, high-quality book mailed directly to their home each month.

“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, President of The Dollywood Foundation. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help.Give Like Dolly Day is an opportunity for people everywhere to not only support their local Imagination Library Partners but also other local nonprofits helping children.”

Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. What began in her home county in East Tennessee has grown into the largest, early childhood book-gifting program in the world, serving children and families through these local partnerships in five countries: U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland.

The program is made possible through the continued support of Dolly’s Estate and The Dollywood Foundation, which invest in the partnerships, resources and systems that empower thousands of Local Program Partners. These local partners build awareness and provide the funding needed to cover the wholesale cost of the books and mailing for children in their communities. Together, this unique partnership helps place books into the homes—and hearts—of millions of children around the world.

On Give Like Dolly Day, the public will be encouraged to:

·Give directly to the Northern Viriginia Imagination Library to help children in our community receive books. Visit novaimaginationlibrary.com/give.

·Share how they Give Like Dolly and encourage others to support children in their own communities using #GiveLikeDolly on their social media posts.

People can also donate at ImaginationLibrary.com, where they can find the Northern Virginia Imagination Library program by selecting “Check Availability” and entering their ZIP code.

Give Like Dolly Day will be celebrated annually on September 25 – a new tradition honoring the way she lived her life: inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more. ™

People and organizations wishing to donate may do so online at our program’s website https://www.novaimaginationlibrary.com/give.

Connect with the Northern Virginia Imagination Library on Facebook (NOVAimaginationlibrary), Instagram (NOVAimagainationlib) and LinkedIn (NOVAImaginationLibrary) and at our website NOVAimaginationlibrary.com

About Northern Virginia Imagination Library

The Northern Virginia (NOVA) Imagination Library Foundation is an IRS 501c(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

The Northern Virginia Imagination Library is a local program partner of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This premier program mails free high-quality, age-appropriate books to registered children every month from birth to age 5. Children enrolled from birth receive 60 books by the time they graduate from the Imagination Library program. The Dollywood Foundation covers overhead costs and negotiates wholesale pricing for the books, while local community partners fundraise to cover the cost of mailing and decided-upon wholesale book prices.

About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 280 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Community Partners.The Imagination Library mails more than 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families.Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More™.

The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visitimaginationlibrary.com.

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