In mother’s honor, author donates 100 books to Fayette Imagination Library
In mother\'s honor, author donates 100 books to Fayette Imagination Library
When Dolly Parton died in August, it inspired a local children’s author to pay tribute in a way his mother would have loved.
On Monday, Rizzi DeFabo presented 100 copies of his book “Rizzi & Nonna and the Wedding Cookies” to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Fayette County.
DeFabo, owner of Rizzo’s Malabar Inn in Crabtree, said the donation was a tribute to his late mother, MaryFrances “Chic” DeFabo.
Chic loved Parton’s music, but most of all, the way she stayed true to who she was after worldwide fame.
“She would always say how she admired her because she never forgot her small hometown roots, and she said that she became such a success and a star because she always had that home feeling within her, and she shared her wealth with everybody, and made a lot of people happy through the years,” he said.
That was never truer than with her Imagination Library, Rizzi DeFabo said.
For the past 31 years, the program has helped instill a love of reading in children from birth through the age of 5 by sending them a free book every month, regardless of income. Fayette County’s chapter was launched in 2007 by five Uniontown businessmen, including the late husband of Nancy Decker. They wanted to improve literacy in Fayette County, and thought they’d have the most impact by instilling a love of reading in children, said Decker, who now serves as the chapter’s president.
“The idea was initially the books would come to the child at home, and the parent would be able to read the book to the child every month because they got an age-appropriate book in the mail, and then hopefully by the time they were four and five, the child was starting to read the book a little bit to the parent,” said Decker, also president and CEO of Laurel Technical Institute and Laurel College of Technology.
About 6,000 children in Fayette County have graduated from the program, finishing up with the Nancy Carlson book, “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!”
DeFabo wrote “Rizzi & Nonna and the Wedding Cookies” about the story of baking Italian wedding cookies with his grandmother and icing them in pastel colors.
He hopes it can spur children to read, as well as get them into the kitchen. The book comes with a recipe for the cookies, so kids can try it out for themselves with a loved one.
“Hopefully, they’ll bond with one of their older parents, parents or guardians, and take an interest in cooking or baking and something hands-on other than a telephone or a computer,” he said.
DeFabo’s book is the program’s first from a local author.
“All of my grandchildren have been part of Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the youngest two right now, and I can’t wait to share this book with them because they love cooking and they love baking cookies with their mother and their nana — me actually,” Decker said. “So I think they are absolutely going to love this.”
The program supports about 1,000 children each year, with even more on a waiting list, Decker said.
It costs $35 to sponsor one child for a year, Decker said. The Imagination Library raises the funds locally through an annual golf outing at Duck Hollow and the annual Books & Brew event in Connellsville. People can also donate through the Redstone Foundation.
“The more we get in, the more children we can support,” she said.
DeFabo’s already heard how much the Imagination Library means to people. When he told one of his co-workers at the restaurant he was donating books to the program, she started to cry.
“All her kids went through the Imagination Library, and she said they awaited that book every month,” he said.