‘I just give from my heart’: how Dolly Parton’s philanthropy focused most on helping children
Parton put her millions behind causes she believed in – from Covid vaccines to the Imagination Library, which sends children around the world a free book every month
TL;DR
- Dolly Parton offered $500 to every seventh and eighth-grader in Sevier County if they graduated high school, which helped reduce the dropout rate from 35% to 6%.
- She founded the Imagination Library in 1995, a charity that has sent over 300 million free books to children globally since its inception.
- Parton established the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to manage her philanthropy, including distributing funds for wildfire relief and providing scholarships.
- She made significant donations to pediatric cancer research and infectious disease research at a children's hospital in Tennessee, which was renamed in her honor.
- Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University for COVID-19 vaccine research, which contributed to the development of the Moderna vaccine.
- In the 1980s and 1990s, she advocated for HIV/Aids compassion and research, contributing to charity albums and awareness campaigns.
- She invested royalties from Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' cover into a Black neighborhood in Nashville, supporting local families.
- Parton received the 2022 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, recognizing her extensive charitable work.