Battle on the Border

United Way raising funds for reading program

The United Way of Greater Texarkana recently announced plans for a new fundraiser, Battle on the Border, scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 at Spring Lake Park.

The event will include a battle of the bands, a sanctioned chili cook-off, Battle of the Border 5K run and a variety of fun contests for attendees, including horse shoes, limbo, hula hoop and more. There will be a VIP tent showing the top college football games taking place that day.

Wine and beer will be sold in the concert and the chili cookoff beer gardens. Wine will be available in the VIP tent.

Admission to the event will be $5 per person.

“It’s going to be a neat event,” said Mark Bledsoe, United Way president/CEO. “I think we’ll have a little bit of everything. … We’re expecting a good size crowd … in the neighborhood of 5,000 people.”

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Imagination Library, a program that sends a book a month to children from birth to age 5.

The United Way is leading the effort to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to children in Miller and Little River counties in Arkansas and Bowie and Cass counties in Texas.

“All the funds are going into a special account for the Imagination Library. … If we could raise $100,000, I’d be satisfied but I’m hoping for more,” said Mark Bledsoe, president/ CEO of the United Way. “This program cost quite a bit to sustain it if you run it properly.”

The cost of the program is $25 per person per year or $125 per person for the duration of the program.

The United Way voted at a recent board meeting to set aside $38,700 from a reserve account to help get the Imagination Library started. UW officials plan for future funds for the program to come from the Battle of the Border festival, something they plan to make an annual event.

Bringing Imagination Library to children in this area would be good for literacy rates and improve school readiness, officials say.

“It really is planting trees. I think it’s going to help with literacy and you’ll see more bonding with parents. It will help this generation be better prepared,” Bledsoe said.

The cost of the program will grow as more children are born.

“In the fifth year, we’re looking at about $183,000. That’s if we’re doing the fun percentage of kids,” Bledsoe said.

Some Imagination Library programs set parameters to keep the cost of the program lower, but he would like to see it available for all children in those four counties, regardless of their parents’ income.

“We’d like the program to be open to everyone. We’re preparing to move forward Jan. 1, but we’ll see what our funds are and what percentage of the population we’ll be able to serve, but I’d like to have it fully funded,” Bledsoe said.

In addition to planning the Battle of the Border festival, United Way members are speaking to local civic organizations and churches seeking partners for the program. They’ve also been writing grants trying to bring in funding for the program.

“The program is too big for the United Way alone. We need the entire community to make this program 100 percent sustainable,” Bledsoe said.

He said people have voiced concerns that this program would take the focus off the other programs the United Way supports.

“That has been brought up, but the major sponsors we’ve received thus far haven’t been as involved with the United Way, so we’ve actually solicited outside our United Way supporters. Monies raised there (festival) are going back into the community, so it is part of the United Way campaign. It’s just monies being designated for this particular program,” Bledsoe said. “Just because we’re working hard on this festival for this program doesn’t mean we’re going to take any time away from the campaign or other programs we’re supporting. We’re going to work equally hard at that as well.”