Dolly Parton, a country music icon and actress who touched the lives of millions throughout her life, has died at age 80, and as tributes pour in, memories of her philanthropy are front and center.
Parton’s Dollywood Foundation spearheaded countless initiatives both in her home state of Tennessee and around the country, including the famed “Imagination Library,” which has sent millions of free books to children in numerous countries.
After her death on Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker paid tribute to her incredible legacy, and said he was proud the state had become a partner of the Imagination Library during his time in office.
“What a lovely person she was, what an inspiration she was for so many,” he said in a social media video. “(The program has) allowed more than 100,000 kids to receive books at home. We are so proud to have become an Imagination Library state, and it’s important to remember Dolly as someone who cared deeply about the people of this country.”
According to the Imagination Library’s website, the program has handed out more than 300 million books to children under the age of 5.
In lieu of flowers, Parton’s family has requested donations to the library, and has also asked fans to leave messages on her website or to tag her on social media.
Parton’s philanthropy was also felt in numerous other areas, and she always had a soft spot in her heart for her home state of Tennessee, where her iconic theme park Dollywood is located.
According to Blue Ridge Public Radio, Parton immediately began searching for ways to help residents of Seiver County, Tennessee after wildfires rampaged through the area around the Great Smoky Mountains. In the end, she donated more than $12 million to the cause, including a remarkable program that gave approximately $1,000 per month to more than 900 families that were impacted by the fires.
Those families also received $5,000 in the final month of the program, and its impacts were studied by multiple universities looking into the value of universal basic income (UBI) programs.
“Dolly was on tour and she called in to say what can we do and how quickly can we do it?” says David Dotson, CEO of the Dollywood Foundation. “Her hometown means so much to her. She always calls it her Smokey Mountain DNA.”
Parton also famously donated more than $1 million to Vanderbilt University at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to fund research projects, including one that ultimately helped to research Moderna’s groundbreaking vaccine for the virus, according to NPR.
While Parton had numerous famous songs during her career, “I Will Always Love You,” which was covered famously by Whitney Houston, also gave her a chance to give back. According to Forbes Magazine, Parton earned more than $10 million in royalties from the song, and she donated a chunk of those royalties to help build an office complex in a predominately Black neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee.
“It was mostly just Black families and people that lived around there,” Parton said. “It was a whole strip mall. And I thought, ‘This is the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney.’ “
More information on the Dollywood Foundation can be found on its website.
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