Our Collaborations

Since 2019, Decatur County United Fund teamed up with the Decatur County Memorial Hospital and the Hospital Foundation of Decatur County to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to our community.

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Dolly Parton believes that if you can read, you can do anything, dream anything, and be anything. Through her Imagination Library program, she wants to ensure all children have books at home, regardless of the environment in which they live.

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Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library puts books into the hands and hearts of children across the world. They partner with local communities to provide a specially selected, high-quality book each month to participating children from birth to age five. These books are personalized with each child’s name and mailed directly to their home to create a gifting experience that makes books exciting and encourages families to spend time enjoying books together.

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Best of all, through this community partnership funding, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is offered at no cost to Decatur County residents with children born at Decatur County Memorial Hospital. Congratulations on your new baby! We hope this special gift provides many enjoyable hours spent reading with your child.

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When you deliver your newborn at Decatur County Memorial Hospital, be sure to ask your nurse provider for this special registration form.

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UPDATE 2024:  Open enrollment is available now at the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library registration page.  You must register on the site and for the county you live in.  Thank you to CenterPoint Energy for the additional support to continue and expand this program in 2024.

Indiana Youth Institute exists to improve the lives of all Indiana children.   They provide critical data, capacity-building resources, and innovative training for people and organizations that impact the healthy development of Indiana’s children and youth.  They facilitate collaboration and promote problem-solving and collective advocacy on a statewide scale.

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The Decatur County Cafe's are made possible by:

Decatur County United Fund and Indiana Youth Institute. 

Decatur County United Fund partners with Decatur County Community School Corporation and is a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the future of innovation and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

The program is open to children entering grades K-6, regardless of the school district. Campers explore technology while building confidence in their natural ability to dream and create. Camp Invention is focused on inspiring future innovators, building STEM skills, and preparing children for the future by providing fun, hands-on activities that encourage creative problem solving, teamwork, entrepreneurship, and curiosity.

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In June 2024,80 students participated in this unique camp. The young inventors learned about the science of sports ball design and personalized a light-up game board, built a customized glow box, campers engineered a tiny house with crops to explore water-based technology, designed prototypes using everyday items, and much more.  It is a great STEM camp to inspire our youth to be future innovators.