Thanks to a corporate grant, United Way of Island County is launching a new program that will benefit Whidbey Island’s children.

Bank of America gave the organization $50,000 this year to begin a Success by Six program. United Ways throughout the United States have implemented Success by Six programs in recent years using grants from Bank of America. The program is aimed at reaching children early in life to instill a love of learning and to increase literacy.

Using the grant, United Way of Island County has developed several facets of the program, beginning as early as possible, at birth. Beginning in January, babies born at Whidbey General Hospital will be sent home with a gift package containing a one-piece t-shirt and a book. The items are packaged together and sealed with a sticker that says, “Read to me.” Parents will also be given information on how to find quality child care.

Additionally, United Way of Island County has used more than $7,000 of the grant money to stock a lending library for licensed in-home daycare providers on Whidbey Island. Developmentally appropriate toys and learning tools will be available for check-out by home daycare providers for use by children in their care.

“They don’t have to go buy the toys. They can just go check them out and use them for a while and take them back,” said Heather Disher, a United Way staffer in charge of stocking the lending library. Disher is helping to implement the entire Success by Six program.

The lending library will be run by the Opportunity Council, Disher said, and details will be made available to licensed in-home daycare providers at an open house on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at United Way of Island County’s offices at 830 SE Bayshore Dr., Suite 200, in Oak Harbor. The open house will run from noon to 7 p.m.

Another component of Success by Six is the volunteer reader program. So far two people, both retired school teachers, have signed up and already begun to visit licensed home daycares to read books to the children.

“They love to listen to stories. They didn’t want me to leave,” said Marian Bartleson of her first reading assignment on Wednesday. Bartleson is a former first-grade teacher with Oak Harbor School District, who retired last June. She was on assignment again on Thursday at the licensed in-home daycare of Candy Slowik of Oak Harbor.

Bartleson said the children benefit from having people coming into the daycare setting to read to them, and the volunteers benefit as well.

“I felt like I was right back at school, teaching again. Once you’ve worked with little kids, I think…you just really miss that a lot,” Bartleson said.

The volunteer reader opportunity is open to adults of all ages with story-reading experience. Background checks are conducted on volunteers.

United Way of Island County first received an $8,000 grant from Bank of America last year to fund the start-up costs of the Success by Six program. The $50,000 grant for the current year is used to purchase the supplies and to administer the program. The organization is currently working on grant writing to receive additional funding from Bank of America for the third and fourth years of the program.

You can reach News-Times reporter Christine Smith at csmith@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.