Power of the Purse set for Thursday
Annual event funds local Dolly Parton Imagination Library program
The United Way of Union County will host its annual Power of the Purse event starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Granite Club.
According to a news release, the event features a fashion show from local merchants, a silent auction including designer purses and other items, heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine, and entertainment provided by Amy Allen.
All proceeds from the annual event will directly benefit the United Way of Union County’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which provides free age-appropriate books on a monthly basis to children from birth to 5 years old. More than 1,300 children are enrolled in the local program, which is offered to families at no cost.
Alexis Alexander, executive director of the United Way of Union County and coordinator of the local book program, has previously told the News-Times that it costs about $2,500 per month to fund the program. The United Way pays for the books and mailing costs, promotes the program, registers children and enters participants’ names in a database. The Dollywood Foundation manages the system and provides the books to be mailed to homes.
For the past few years, the United Way and volunteer committees have worked to raise funds to continue the program through the annual Power of the Purse event.
This year’s event is sponsored by Shari and Steve Terry, Sarah and Bob Merkle, Teresa Swint, Clean Harbors, El Dorado Chemical, El Dorado Service League, El Dorado Rotary Club, Presqu’ile Wine and HEPCO, Inc.
Tickets for the event are $40 and tickets for a raffle of a Michael Kors purse are also available for $5 each.
Parents and guardians can sign up their children for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program and, eight to 10 weeks after the registration form has been received, books will begin arriving at the child’s home. Parents can sign up online at imaginationlibrary.com.
In 1995, Dolly Parton launched the library with a vision to foster a love of reading among her Tennessee county’s preschool children and their families by providing a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted
children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income, according to the Imagination Library website.
The library project became so popular that in the year 2000, Parton announced she would
make the program available to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Since the initial program launch in the United States, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to more than 60 million books mailed to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
For more information on the program or the Power of the Purse event, contact Alexander at alexis@unitedwayunioncounty.com or 870-862-4903.