Kyle DeGood, founder of the DeGood Foundation, brought Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Newport News and York County (Courtesy of Kyle DeGood)
WILLIAMSBURG — The DeGood Foundation recently hit a milestone, celebrating 200,000 free books mailed to children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The organization, started by Kyle DeGood when he was in college, aims to provide equitable access to literacy resources for children in the community. DeGood launched the foundation to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to the Hampton Roads region.
“I was inspired by my younger sister’s love of reading. When I would visit them after I moved back to the area, because I grew up in a military family, so I kind of come from a little bit of everywhere, we’d either play hide-and-seek for three hours or we’d read for three hours, and there was no in between,” DeGood recalled.
“I’ve been a longtime fan of Dolly Parton, ever since I was a little kid, just for the music and the movies and all the great things she’s done philanthropically,” DeGood continued. “It’s one of those instances where it’s surprising that we didn’t have a resource like this in the community before.”
Children who enroll receive a free book in the mail every month from the time they’re born until they turn five.
The DeGood Foundation launched its mission in 2019 with one zip code in Newport News and one zip code in York County. Since then, it’s grown into the largest imagination library in the commonwealth. The organization serves almost 6,500 children who receive free books in the mail and operates over the entirety of the peninsula, the Middle Peninsula, Greater Williamsburg, and Isle of Wight.
DeGood says some of the endeavor’s funding comes from grant applications, corporate donations and foundations, but the bulk comes from its community of monthly donors. The foundation also hosts an annual fundraising event in the spring called Storybook Breakfast, a character breakfast that is also a time to celebrate the program’s graduates.
“It’s amazing. It’s really electric. It’s one of those things where there are so many times, especially with nonprofits, where we’re just not sure if we’re going to make it or if we weren’t gonna make fundraising goals or if we were going to be able to get this far, but the community has really wrapped its arms around us and made sure that we have to support we need to be successful,” DeGood said.
Only last year, the organization celebrated its 100,000-book milestone.
To learn more about the DeGood Foundation or the Imagination Library, visit their official websites.