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United Way of Western Connecticut's Imagination Library program has been selected as a top 200 cause out of 4,000 applicants across the country to receive one of 40 State Farm Neighborhood Assist grants in the amount of $25,000, according to a press release. Residents are asked to help the group win the grant worth $25,000 in children's books by voting for the program on Facebook. Residents can vote 10 times per day through Saturday, May 17.
"Studies show that simply reading aloud to children at an early age is the most effective way to help develop critical communication skills, and that children of parents who talk more with them are more likely to develop their full intellectual potential," representatives said in the release. "When books are in the home, parents are four times more likely to read with their children, but lower income families often do not have age appropriate books at home."
Imagination Library mails a new, age-appropriate book each month to children from birth to age five at no cost to families, "eliminating the financial barrier to book ownership that low-income families often face and allowing families to build a home library," according to the release.
The $25,000 grant from State Farm would provide books for more than 750 children for a year, according to the release. To date, United Way of Western Connecticut has distributed more than 125,000 free books to more than 6,100 local children, according to the release.
Click here to vote for the United Way program using the State Farm app on Facebook.
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