Making Change

Imagine a world where every child starts life with a library full of stories that connect them with other children in their community. That’s what local nonprofit Roots Grow Wings is dedicated to building.
 
Roots Grow Wings is the Loudoun County chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, an organization that delivers free books to every registered child from birth through age five. Its mission is to increase early childhood literacy and teach kids to love reading. Every child is eligible, regardless of their family’s circumstances.
 
“Dolly’s vision was that everybody would have the same start,” said Sue Lyons, one of the founding members of Roots Grow Wings. “That everyone would walk into the classroom in kindergarten having read the same books and that would connect them.”
 
Each child starts with Dolly’s favorite, “The Little Engine That Could,” and graduates the program with “Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come!” The rest of the books are unique to a child’s birth year.
 
While some states fully cover the Imagination Library, building it into their long-term budgets, Virginia relies on help from local nonprofits like Roots Grow Wings. Run by a small group of dedicated volunteers, they cover children in 16 zip codes in the Loudoun County area, with hopes to expand to more.
 
Since starting in 2021, Roots Grow Wings has delivered over 50,000 books to more than 2,500 children. The organization is responsible for raising the funds to purchase and ship these books. With only partial funding from the state, they rely on community donations to make the program possible.
 
MainStreet Bank’s Annette Morgan, SVP Relationship Manager, was inspired to donate through the bank’s Making Change giving program, after her grandson started receiving books from his local chapter of the Imagination Library. She brought together a group of colleagues, and together they donated $3,000 – enough to cover the cost of over 1,150 books.
 
“Children need books to help develop their minds for learning and imagination,” said Annette. “This organization does a fantastic job of making that possible for the children in our community.”