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    Fremont County resident receives award from United Way of Southwest Wyoming

    United Way of Southwest Wyoming (UWSW) presented Fremont County resident Emily Smith with a Hand Raiser Award on June 1st for her volunteer service during 2019.

    This award, and others, are typically awarded during UWSW’s annual celebration event, but due to the pandemic was canceled.

    Smith volunteers for UWSW’s Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Southwest Wyoming for Fremont County. Through this program, children from birth to age four can register to have a free book mailed to their home each month. Smith was instrumental in increasing the number of children registered in the program.

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    “With Emily’s help to reach out to the community, registrations more than doubled,” said Shelley Richno, community impact coordinator at UWSW, “we cover five counties in Wyoming. We have to have local volunteers to better reach our communities.”

    Currently, 436 Fremont County children are enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL). DPIL provides the books for the program. UWSW’s responsibility is to raise the funds to pay for the shipping of the books, promote the program and manage the database. The average cost per child, per year is $30, about $2.50 a month. Enrollments are received online and through paper registrations that are distributed through collaborations with other community partners.

    In Fremont County, donations for the program are received through various workplace campaigns and from the annual Men Who Cook fundraiser organized by the Fremont County School District #25 Graduation Matters committee.

    To register a child or donate visit www.swunitedway.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library. For more information or questions contact Shelley Richno at 307-362-5003, or [email protected].

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