March 3, 2023 – West Plains, Mo. – Fidelity Communications recently awarded a $2,500 grant to the Imagination Library of West Plains through Cable One’s Charitable Giving Fund. Twenty-eight non-profit organizations across Cable One’s 24-state footprint received grants totaling more than $110,000 during the company’s most recent award period.
Launched in 1995 by philanthropist, singer-songwriter and actress Dolly Parton, the Imagination Library mails books to more than a million children from birth to age five every year, regardless of their family’s income, in order to encourage literacy, kindergarten readiness, and a life-long love of reading. Launched in 2015, the West Plains Imagination Library is run by Heart of the Ozarks United Way. Dependent entirely on donations, the West Plains program currently serves 240 children and plans to expand its outreach.
“The board of directors for the Imagination Library of West Plains is extremely grateful to receive this grant, which will pay for five months of age-appropriate books for children,” said Stacy Tintocalis, Heart of the Ozarks United Way Executive Director. “Two-hundred-and-forty children ages five and under will receive one free book each month. That’s a total of 1,200 books to promote literacy, parental bonding, and pre-school preparedness. This is especially impactful among the economically disadvantaged families in our program where Imagination Library books are the only age-appropriate books in the home.”
The Charitable Giving Fund, which annually awards nearly $250,000 in grants to local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations served by the Cable One family of brands (Sparklight®, Fidelity Communications, Hargray, ValuNet Fiber and CableAmerica), concentrates support in the following priority areas:
- Education and Digital Literacy
- Food Insecurity
- Community Development
Nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to apply for a grant during open application periods each spring and fall. Applications for spring 2023 grants will open between April 1-30, 2023.
The Charitable Giving Fund is an extension of the company’s existing corporate social responsibility efforts, which include:
- Supporting national organizations dedicated to advancing education and diversity, including the Emma Bowen Foundation and the National Diversity Council.
- Supporting the mission of Special Olympics, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports, as well as health, arts, and leadership and advocacy programs for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
- Planting trees through the Arbor Day Foundation on behalf of customers who switch to paperless billing. By the end of 2022, the company planted 120,000 trees in its markets and national forests.
- Supporting the mission of Keep America Beautiful in cleaning up and beautifying communities across the U.S.
- Addressing food insecurity across its footprint through the donation of more than 46 tons of food and nearly $40,000 since 2018.
