DIY VIRAL
Dolly Parton have to work beyond the 9 to 5 to balance her music and the impressive charitable efforts.
In 2022, Parton was honored with the Carnegie Philanthropy Medal for decades of good work, and she marveled at how “proud” she was to receive the recognition. Her acts of kindness include establishing the Dollywood Foundation and donating funds to vaccine research following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“What an honor to be here. “I'm really honored and proud to be among these great people and do all these great things to help the world, as they say,” Parton said in October 2022. accepting the medal. “I just give from my heart. I never know what I will do or why I will do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, I will.
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The Grammy winner continued, “If I can do my little part in this world, then that's all I ask in this world. I am very proud of the Imagination Library, so it is very dear to me. I just hope I can keep doing good things.
Scroll down to see some of Parton's most charitable moments:
1988
Parton started her non-profit organization, the Dollywood Foundation, in April 1988 in Sevierville, Tennessee. The goal was to increase the number of local high school graduates and reduce the dropout rate.
The “Jolene” singer also created a buddy program that awarded $500 to every seventh- and eighth-grader in the district who graduated from high school. The startup was a success, with the dropout rate reportedly dropping from 35 percent to just 6 percent. foundation website.
1991
Parton opened Dollywood as part of her successful theme park Eagle Mountain Reserve. The facility spans 30,000 square feet and is managed by the American Eagle Foundations shelters to help keep bald eagles safe.
1995
The musician expanded The Dollywood Foundation with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The program donates a book to children under the age of five each month to help with literacy and further education across the country and internationally. In 2018, Parton reached a milestone as the Imagination Library shipped its 100 millionth book.
2000 year
The foundation launched five $15,000 scholarships, dubbed the Dolly Parton Scholarship, to Sevier County high school seniors to help students continue their studies at an accredited university. “The scholarships are for students who have a dream they want to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to making their dreams come true,” the website says.
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2007
Parton gave back to her community by helping raise $500,000 for Sevier County Hospital with a benefit concert. Dollywood and Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Theater each pledged $250,000 for a total of $1 million in fundraising. The funds were used to open LeConte Medical Center, a hospital and cancer center, in 2010.
2016 year
After the devastating wildfires in Tennessee ripped through the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton created the My People Foundation under the umbrella of her Dollywood Foundation. The foundation distributed $1,000 per month for six months to families who lost their primary residence. In 2017, the foundation revealed that more than $12 million was raised and distributed to those in need last year.
2017 year
After the release of the children's album, I believe in youPatron donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's hospital. The donation was made in honor of Parton's niece, who was being treated for leukemia at the hospital.
2020 year
In the spring of 2020, Parton was one of the many celebrities who developed a blade for the Williams-Sonoma Charity Kitchenware Collection. Parton's design helped raise money for the company's annual Cook for a Cause campaign.
That same year, the actress made headlines for donating money to coronavirus vaccine research after the global pandemic broke out. Parton gave $1 million to help Moderna's vaccine studies that were reported to be 94.5 percent effective against the virus.
“I'm just glad that whatever I do can help somebody else,” Parton said Today at that time. “When I donated money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to be good. Apparently, it is. Let's hope we find a cure soon. “
The year 2021
When Humphreys County, Tennessee experienced unprecedented flooding and devastation, Parton stepped up and raised $700,000 to get people back on their feet. Parton's Dollywood and Pigeon Forge dinner show properties donated a portion of ticket sales on two October 2021 dates to benefit the United Way of Humphreys County.
Parton's late friend Loretta Lynn was responsible for choosing the charity. “After the Sevier County wildfires in 2016, Loretta was one of the first to give whatever she could,” Parton said in a statement. “It meant so much to me that Loretta — and so many people — were willing to give their all. It was just one small way I could help the people of Loretta for all they did to help my people.
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Earlier that year, Parton revealed that she had used some of the royalties from Whitney Houston cover of her song “I Will Always Love You” to give back to the Black neighborhood in Nashville. “It was mostly black families and people,” Parton said during an August 2021 appearance. Watch What's On With Andy Cohen livesharing that she has invested in an office complex in the area. “It was a whole strip mall. And I thought, 'This is the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney.'
She continued: “I was just thinking, 'That was great.' I will be here with her people, who are also my people. And so I just love the fact that I spent that money on a complex. And I thought, “This is the house that Whitney built.”
The year 2022
Parton made the announcement in February 2022 Dollywood — through its affiliate Herschend Enterprises — would begin covering 100 percent of the tuition, fees and book costs of any employee who goes to college to further their education.
Four months later, “Here You Come Again” singer donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to aid the hospital's pediatric infectious disease research.
The year 2024
Parton personally pledged a million dollars Mountain Ways Foundation, which helped East Tennessee communities affected by Hurricane Helena. Her donation would be matched by her companies, including the Dollywood Foundation and Dollywood Parks and Resorts. The East Tennessee resident shared that she will be donating with Walmart.
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