LIVINGSTON — A campaign in Park County is turning the page on childhood literacy with the help of Dolly Parton.
The effort is part of Give a Hoot, a month-long community giving challenge organized by the Park County Community Foundation. The initiative encourages residents to support local nonprofits working on issues that matter, like early childhood education.
In Park County, nearly 1 in 3 children begin kindergarten already behind. By third grade, more than half aren’t reading at grade level.
One organization tackling the issue head-on is Greater Gallatin United Way, now in its fourth year participating in the campaign. The nonprofit helps fund Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that sends one free book each month to children from birth until age five.
“When children have books in their home, they are more likely to read them,” said Kimberly Hall, CEO of Greater Gallatin United Way.
“Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a wonderful program. We fund a book a month that comes to their house in the child's name before they turn five. So, they start kindergarten with 60 books in their library—age-appropriate books. It's such a foundational piece: literacy for early learning, for vocabulary, and learning words and phonetics. It really helps children have a great foundation as they enter school.”
But the nonprofit’s work doesn’t stop at early literacy.
“Early learning is just one initiative that Greater Gallatin United Way invests in,” Hall added.
“We have four really key priority areas, including basic needs, youth success, and mental health and well-being. When we can provide a collaborative effort around these initiatives, we can make our community stronger and more resilient.”
Early donations for Give a Hoot kicked off this week and will continue through the month of July.
