Nash Finch Co., a Minneapolis-based food distributor, in conjunction with Hugo’s Family Marketplace, today announced a $20,000 donation that will be provided to support fundraising efforts for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Jamestown, N.D. The donation was made by Nash Finch CEO Alec Covington, along with Judy Magnuson and Kristi Magnuson Nelson from Hugo’s. They were joined by the superintendent of Jamestown Public School District, Robert Lech, and North Dakota’s First Lady Betsy Dalrymple to unveil the donation to Jamestown Public School teachers and administrators at the Inservice program held at the local high school this morning.
“We at Nash Finch and Hugo’s are so proud to be able to support the already tremendous fundraising efforts Jamestown has initiated to support the Imagination Library,” said Covington. “This important program is vital to the current and future health of the community and aligns with our values and hopes for the generations to come.”
Every year before the beginning of the new school year, Jamestown Public School teachers and administrators gather at the Inservice program in the high school auditorium to discuss important topics like professional development, school improvement and self-funded insurance programs. Today, Covington presented an oversized check of $20,000 to the Jamestown Public School Foundation under a giant 800-balloon archway, which symbolized the approximate number of Jamestown public preschoolers now able to enroll in the Imagination Library program because of the Nash Finch and Hugo’s donation.
“It’s always exciting and very rewarding when you can do something that has an impact in the community you serve. We feel so privileged to be part of Jamestown and offer this assistance to the local school system,” said Kristi Magnuson, president of Hugo’s.
“The promotion of early literacy is a target area for the Jamestown School District and we are very excited about this generous gift from Nash Finch to help the community of Jamestown support the Imagination Library,” said Lech. “Our hope is that, through the Imagination Library, we can encourage parents to read to their children and help to instill a lifelong love for literacy. Imagination Library is an initiative that we are very passionate about and would be much less successful without this donation from Nash Finch.”
Nash Finch Co. is the second largest U.S. wholesale food distributor to retail grocery stores, including Hugo’s Marketplace, and have been dedicated to supporting education funding in local communities for many years with the Our Family Labels for Learning program. Designed to help students and education organizations by providing tools for success, the Labels for Learning program is another way the Jamestown community can continue to support child literacy efforts.
“Our Labels for Learning program can further supplement this fundraising effort for Imagination Library and together we can advance educational opportunities for students in our local schools,” Covington said.
Imagination Library is sponsored nationally by the Dolly Parton Foundation and was brought to Jamestown by The Jamestown Public School Foundation in May 2013 after it raised $20,000. Every child enrolled in the program receives an age-appropriate book each month for one year at no cost to the parents.
