Burns secures $20,000 state grant to keep Imagination Library going

EBENSBURG, July 28 – After securing a stage grant to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Cambria County last year, state Rep. Frank Burns, today announced he has secured another $20,000 grant to ensure the program continues.

“This program has been a huge success since we held our kick-off event last year at Saint Francis, and I wanted to make sure it continues to enrich the lives of children in our community,” Burns said. “Reading a fundamental life skill, and there’s no greater investment we can make in our kids’ future success than to support reading and early literacy. I especially want to thank Saint Francis University for stepping up and facilitating this program in our community. I could not have made this happen without them.”

In the year since the program started in Cambria County, the university said it has placed 12,640 books into the hands of 1,686 children.

“We are grateful to State Representative Frank Burns for entrusting the university to implement this tremendous early childhood literacy program,” said Melissa Peppetti, director of graduate education programs at Saint Francis, and who is leading the program. “We do so proudly through SFU's Dorothy Day Outreach Center and the Graduate Education Department as part of our mission to support families and promote children's literacy. Given that there are more than 6,000 eligible families with children from birth to age 5 in Cambria County, Representative Burns' continued financial support enables us to reach as many children as possible." 

Read the full release here: 

https://www.pahouse.com/Burns/InTheNews/NewsRelease/?id=125533