Just in time for I Love to Read Month coming up next week, the Morden Family Resource Centre (MFRC) has shared some exciting literacy programming-related news.
The centre, which provides a range of free early childhood education programming, is gearing up to launch Morden’s very own Imagination Library.
The international program founded by country music superstar Dolly Parton mails out free books to registered kids every month from the time they’re born until they turn five, helping families build up a healthy home library and a lifelong love of reading.
“She wanted to ensure that every child has access to books in their home regardless of family income,” shared MFRC executive director Jen Froese.
The program has many chapters operating across Canada, including one in nearby Winkler/Plum Coulee that has been up and running for 11 years.
“Both my kids went through that program,” Froese shared. “We received many great books and they still love sitting down with them.”
The success of the Winkler chapter has led to numerous requests over the years for something similar in Morden, and, after researching the program and finding volunteers willing to sit on the operating committee, the time finally seemed right to take the next step.
“The Morden Family Resource Center volunteers and employees are really closely connected to the children, schools, and healthcare in their professions,” Froese noted. “A volunteer on the board was actually approached by a local physician in the area at work [who] expressed the need for this program, and we couldn’t agree more.
“It has taken some planning, funding, and volunteers, but we are beyond excited to be launching Imagination Library in Morden.”
In partnership with Western School Division, they’ve already officially formed the Morden chapter, but now need to raise funds to support the costs of books and postage fees for the first year before they can open registration.
“There is an expense to running this initiative,” Froese said. “The cost is minimal for 12 books a year for one child—an average of $47, so about $4 a book.
“We would like to start with 100 kids, so to be able to have this run for two years we’d need at least $10,000,” she said. If they raise double that, they could start with 200 kids, Froese noted, and keep the waiting list low from the outset.
MFRC is a non-profit organization, so they’re relying on the community to help them get this program off the ground.
“We run on donations and supports from grants and partnerships,” Froese explained, noting they currently receive funding from the school division and South Central Regional Library. “We’re hoping businesses as well as the city of Morden will partner with us on this.”
“Collaboration is the key to success of this community-based program,” she stressed.
If you’d like to support this project, you can make a donation online at imaginationlibrary.com/ca/affiliate/MBMORDEN or contact the resource centre directly at 1-204-823-8158 or mordenfamilyresourcecentre@gmail.com.
Once the funds are raised—and Froese is hoping that will be in the next few weeks—they will begin accepting registrations of children from newborn to age five who live in the Western School Division catchment area.
