Up to 50 children in Marion County will benefit from a program designed to send one book per month thanks to the efforts of a big leaguer.
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder and Columbia native Anthony Alford announced a fundraiser last week to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to his hometown. Alford partnered with Transforming Lives, a non-profit run by Alford’s church, Christian Family Worship Center in Columbia, and a national group with offices here, Save the Children, to spearhead the collaboration.
The nationally acclaimed program mails free books to children up to 5 years old each month around the country, and the books are always new and made specifically for the program.
Alford said his English teacher from Petal High School, Lisa McDonald, is the one who initially brought Imagination Library to his attention.
“She told me they were trying to get the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Columbia for the kids in the county. I thought it was a good idea,” he said. “It’s something she mentioned to me early in the offseason to see if I wanted to help out in some kind of way.”
Alford said he believes education is key for Marion County’s youth, and he was inspired to help by his own experiences. During his childhood summers, his mom would give him workbooks that were intended for the grade he was heading into. He said it helped him a ton, and he would spend up to two hours every day preparing for the school year.
“I know how far ahead it put me starting school, and I just want to allow a lot of these kids to have an opportunity. You see it happen so often today that kids fall behind in school. The parent may not be able to afford the books for them to continue to work on their craft and strengthen their reading skills,” he said. “It’s important to get books in these kids hands at an early age for their brain to start working the right way and expanding their vocabulary before they even start school.”
To raise funds for the program, Alford is holding a raffle for baseball memorbilia. One of the prizes includes three-time All-Star Curtis Granderson’s game-worn cleats and an autographed bat. Alford asked Granderson, who has roots in Mississippi, if he had any game-used gear that could be raffled off to benefit Save the Children, and Granderson was more than happy to help, according to Alford.
“Curtis does a lot of stuff in the community all across the country in different communities. He’s kind of been that personal mentor to me, not just on the field but off the field as well when it comes to building a brand, giving back and how to run foundations,” he said. “He was excited to help.”
The other raffle is a bat signed by all of the instructors from the Mississippi Dream Series camps, including Alford, Granderson, Ti’Quan Forbes, DeMarcus Evans, Fred Lewis, Corey and Anthony Ray, Jonathan Davis, Bryson Medious and several more.
Interested parties can enter the raffle on the Imagination Marion County rallyup website (click here), and there is also a link for people to simply donate without entering either raffle.
