They don't call her Saint Dolly for nothing! The country music icon has never lost touch with her nine to five roots throughout her successful career. Dolly Parton continues to steal the hearts of many Americans through her lyrics and generous acts of charity. Her efforts do not go unnoticed, as the eye-opening tweet by @Heronymous spread all over Twitter last year saying, "Let's be clear: Dolly Parton is a millionaire and not a billionaire because she *keeps giving money away*."
Not a year goes by where Dolly isn't taking advantage of her platform and network to give back to countless individuals and communities. What can't this woman do? From her big hair, strong voice, and ability to write two successful songs in one day, Dolly's a force to be reckoned with. She still remains as humble as ever and lives life the opposite of her infamous lyric, "it's all taking and no giving." Here are all the ways Dolly Parton has been charitable during her legendary career.
10 Donated To Covid-19 Research
In 2020 Dolly Parton donated $1 Million to Vanderbilts University Medical Center, which later helped develop the Moderna Vaccine. She shared her reasoning with UK's Absolute Radio, saying, "When the pandemic came out, I just felt kind of led to doing something because I knew something bad was on the rise, and I just wanted to kind of help with that." However, continuing to prove her modesty, she adds, "Mine was a small part, of course. I probably get a lot more credit than I deserve." After waiting her turn, Dolly finally received the vaccine she helped to fund on March 2nd. Dolly posted on Twitter, "Dolly getting a taste of her own medicine," with a video of herself receiving the Moderna shot at Vanderbilts University Medical Center.
9 Donated To Monroe Childrens Hospital
Dolly is not shy to give millions of dollars away each year. In 2017, Dolly donated $1 million to Vanderbilt's Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital in Nashville Tennesse. She visited the childrens hopsital to sing songs from her childrens album "I Belive In You" inspired by her neice Hannah. Her neice, who is now 32, battled Luckemia as a child and recieved treatment at Monroe's facility. For this reason, Dolly decided to donate her fortune to the hospital saying, "It's so important to take care of children whether they're sick or whether they're well, especially when they are not feeling good. - That's something that will help a little bit. This ain't about me – it's about them."
8 My People Fund
Just 48 hours after the Tennessee wildfires that devastated the Great Smokey Mountains, Dolly established the My People Fund in 2016. Dolly wanted to help aid families in Sevier County whose homes were entirely destroyed by the fires. The My Peoples Fund provided precisely $1,000 a month for six months to families who lost their primary residence due to the wildfires. The fund was not expecting as much support as it tractioned because they raised enough money to send out $5,000 to each family. The non-profit organization continues to provide rent, food, and mental health aid to families in need to this day. Dolly Parton couldn't stop there. She also decided to give out college scholarship money to graduating seniors in Sevier County who were affected by the fires.
7 Efforts To Raise Money For The New Sevier County Hopsital
In 2007, Dolly helped raise a whopping $1 million in total for the new hospital and cancer center in Sevier County, called the LeConte Medical Center. A benefit concert was organized to help raise money for the new medical center resulting in $500,000 in donations. An additional $500,000 was gathered together by two $250,000 contributions from Dollywood and Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Theater. Dolly thanked her fans for purchasing the tickets and spending all that money, saying, "I ain't worth it, but the folks in Sevier County are." Dolly remains passionate to helping this particular county since it is where she was born and raised.
6 The Dollywood Foundation
What started Dolly's giving train was the establishment her non-profit organization called, The Dollywood Foundation. Dolly's foundations was created in 1988 to "inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success," and initial efforts focused on "decreasing the drop out rate in the county's high school." The Dollywood Foundation expanded its education to children through many different programs and scholarships, such as the Imagination Library and The Dolly Parton Scholarship. Dolly has always remained adamant in making sure children who grew up similar to her get the opportunity to achieve their dreams like she could.
5 The Dolly Parton Scholarship
Sustaining to support her home state of Tennesse, Dolly provides a $15,000 college scholarship to five Sevier County high school students through her non-profit organization. According to the Dollywood Foundation, "The scholarships are for students who have a dream they wish to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams." After watching her father struggle from lack of education, Dolly made it a point to focus on making education more accessible to others who wouldn't have the financial ability to further educate themselves otherwise. The Dolly Parton Scholarship continues to provide additiional schalrships to students, such as a $30,000 sholarship to a girl in Arkansas.
4 Imagination Library
The primary focus of The Dollywood Foundation is the Imagination Libray program which Dolly started in 1995. The original purpose of this non-profit organization was to provide every child born in Sevier County with one book a month until the child started school at the age of five. Dolly made sure to give a book to every child regardless of their family's financial situation. During an interview with the Nashville Scene, she stated, "I have always felt we shouldn't leave anybody out or single anybody out." In 2006, the Imagination Library spread its wings internationally, providing books to children in Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. Later in 2018, Dolly celebrated the 100th million book deliveerd to a child since the start of the program.
3 The Buddy Program
During the '90s Sevier County's high school dropout rate was considerably high, with more than 30 percent of the students not graduating. Research has shown that focusing on helping middle school students can help improve the high school graduation rate. Therefore, Dolly and The Dollywood Foundation decided to make a difference where it mattered. Dolly asked every seventh and eighth grader in Sevier County to "buddy-up" with another student to graduate high school in return that she personally give them $500. They would only receive the cash if their buddy graduated, so they had to hold each other accountable. According to her website, this particular program significantly changed the dropout rate for those classes from 30% to 6%.
2 Opened An Eagle Sancuary
Dollyworld is an endless place of fun and entertainment located within the Great Smokey Mountains in Pigeon Forde, Tennessee. The amusement park is made up of numerous attractions and rides, which also includes an Eagle Mountain Sanctuary exhibit. In collaboration with the American Eagle Foundation, Dolly introduced this particular exhibit to Dollyworld in 1991. According to the Dollyworlds website, the 30,000 square foot sanctuary "houses the country's largest presentation of non-releasable bald eagles." By facilitating the sanctuary at Dollyworld, Dolly supports the American Eagles Foundation's efforts to preserve the national bird that was once endangered.
1 Gives Royalties A To Black Community
The latest news on Dolly Parton was her announcement to give all her royalties from Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" to a black community in Nashville, Tennessee. Since it was Whitney that made the song so legendary. During her appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Dolly revealed that she bought property to boost the historically black neighborhood in Nashville with Whitney in mind. She told Andy Cohen, "I bought my big office complex down in Nashville - I bought a property down in what was the Black area of town, and it was mostly just Black families and people that lived around there. It was off the beaten path from 16th Avenue, and I thought, 'Well, I am gonna buy this place — the whole strip mall.' And I thought, 'This is the perfect place for me to be,' considering it was Whitney."
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