NEW YORK – Just weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the American South in 2024, Dolly Parton stood on a stage in her iconic blonde wig, ready to share a message of hope. With the music of her famous song “Jolene” playing, she promised the flood-ravaged community in her native Tennessee that “we’re all here to mend these broken hearts.”
For Dolly, who was not only a music legend but also a successful businesswoman, this promise came with action. That day, she announced a generous $1 million donation, which was matched by her Dollywood companies and their partners, to support an Appalachian relief nonprofit.
This moment is just one of many that showcase her as a compassionate humanitarian. Dolly’s good humor and straightforward generosity significantly uplifted the well-being of communities not only in her home state but around the country. Fans of all ages will remember these acts of kindness as part of her lasting legacy. Sadly, she passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80.
“I just give from my heart,” Dolly once said during her speech accepting the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022. “I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, then I will.”
Dolly was recognized by the Library of Congress as a “titan of children’s literacy” for her Imagination Library, which sends millions of free books to children every month. Additionally, she made headlines for her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center to help develop Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The not-for-profit Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital also received funding to enhance pediatric care in eastern Tennessee.
Dolly’s quiet acts of kindness often went unnoticed until recently. Internet users discovered that she had been funding band uniforms for various Tennessee high schools and even purchased a Nashville strip mall to support surrounding Black neighborhoods with her “I Will Always Love You” songwriting royalties.
Stacia West, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, described Dolly’s approach as “magical.” She highlighted Parton’s $12 million My People Fund, which provided families who lost their homes in the 2016 Sevier County fires with $1,000 a month for six months, no strings attached. This kind of trust in beneficiaries to make their own choices is a lesson that philanthropy can learn from her.
“What really stands out is her belief in the goodness of people and her ability to apply that to difficult problems,” West commented.
Dolly applied the same thoughtful approach to her reading initiative. Instead of requiring families to go to a library, she made it easy by mailing books directly to their homes.
Growing up as the fourth of twelve children in a poor Appalachian family, Dolly often reflected on her father’s struggles with literacy. She believed that if he could have read and written, he could have achieved so much more. Since its inception, the Imagination Library has delivered over 330 million books to kids across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.
Ohio’s first lady, Fran DeWine, emphasized Dolly’s unmatched commitment to children and literacy. In Ohio alone, over a million children have received nearly 28 million books through the program.
“Her generosity and selfless spirit leave a legacy that will live on for generations to come,” DeWine said.
In addition to her work with the Imagination Library, Dame Louise Richardson, President of the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, praised the Dollywood Foundation for its efforts to secure educational success for children born into poverty. Dolly established this foundation to provide college scholarships for students from her hometown near the Great Smoky Mountains.
“She made philanthropy fun!” Richardson remarked.
In a fitting tribute, Dolly’s family requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Imagination Library. Dolly herself once said the initiative “meant as much, if not more to me, than nearly anything that I’ve ever done.”
“Of course, I’ll always be a singer-songwriter,” she said during a 2024 appearance expanding the program in Kentucky. “But I just hope people will just say she was a good ol’ girl, you know? She tried hard, she worked hard and she tried to make the world a better place and try to make people happy. And I will be doing that till I keel over.”
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Gamboa reported from Cleveland. Staff writer Julie Carr Smyth contributed reporting from Columbus, Ohio.
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