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Dolly Parton is best known as a musical superstar. He has written or co-written thousands of songs. He has 26 number one hits to his credit and has sold over 100 million records.
He has won numerous awards including 11 Grammys, 4 American Music Awards, 13 Academy of Country Music Awards, Entertainer of the Year, 2 Emmys, a Star on the Walk of Fame and more. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Dolly Parton is a legend.
However, when she’s not making hit records (or breaking them) she’s quietly going about her business of making the world a better place.
What Dolly Parton is doing to make a difference in people’s lives
Parton has long been known for her humanitarian efforts. But recently she hit the headlines when a tweet revealing secrets about her giving went viral.
Writer and journalist Harriot took Twitter to reveal that the chart-topping singer was secretly funding bands and choirs at the majority black high school. And he’s been doing it for decades.
He shared that when talking to former high school choir or band members, he noticed one “quietly surprising thing” they all had in common – Dolly Parton.
“Here’s a quietly surprising thing I’ve noticed: If you talk to anyone who was in choir or band at a mostly black high school, you’ll eventually discuss those pesky fundraisers for uniforms, instruments, etc., and a surprising number will say frankly, ” Oh, Dolly Parton paid for us,” Harriot wrote.
Here’s a quietly surprising thing I noticed:
If you talk to anyone who was in choir or band at a majority black high school, you’ll end up discussing those pesky fundraisers for uniforms, instruments, etc.
“Oh, Dolly Parton Paid For Us”
— Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) October 6, 2022
people Quickly confirmed the story. One person replied to Harriot’s tweet: “30+ years ago I was in the high school marching band in East Tennessee. One year we played Sevier County High School…and dang that band was decked out — uniforms, instruments, flags, everything. Hilly areas, lots of poverty. Paid for by Dolly Parton. That woman is a national treasure.”
Another revealed that she “did it for my 4 kids.”
Yet another tweeted: “Can confirm. And for anyone asking why he can do this or why bands and music are important, especially for underrepresented communities, do a little research and look at the huge jumps in graduation rates, SAT scores and lifetime outcomes. You play a ‘dice, your world grows.
Dolly Parton has decades of giving under her belt
Secretly paying for uniforms and equipment isn’t the only time Parton has given to schools. In 1988, he founded The Dollywood Foundation in his hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. It offers a $1000 cash incentive to keep children in school. Today, the foundation continues to provide scholarships to local high school students.
Dolly Parton also started the Imagination Library in 1995, a literacy program that provides monthly free book giveaways to children under the age of 5. Since its inception, it has delivered more than 165 million books to children worldwide.
He credits his father for the inspiration behind it, saying, “It actually started because my father couldn’t read and write and I saw how crippling it could be. My father was a very smart man. And I often thought that he could read and write.” What he could do if he could write. So that’s the inspiration.”
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But his donations don’t stop there. According to parent, Parton is also paying the full college tuition fees of all Dollywood employees.
Additionally, he invested his “I Will Always Love You” royalties into a black community in Nashville, calling it “the house that Whitney built.”
He also made headlines during the pandemic when his $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University helped fund research for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
And while he prefers to keep his charity work out of the spotlight, his philanthropic deeds have not gone unnoticed.
Dolly Parton recently received the 2022 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy
The country superstar is the first female entertainer to receive the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy According to the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Selection Committee, he was selected as a 2022 honoree for helping others.
“With his philanthropy and his artistry, he empowered and uplifted the citizens of his Tennessee home county, as well as millions more around the world,” the organization said in a statement.
And he has no plans to stop.
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In his acceptance speech, he said he “thinks it’s important for everyone to do their part to help their fellow man,” and that when you help someone, it has the power to help you even more.
“That’s what we’re supposed to do as humans,” he continued. “I never understood why we had to let religion and politics and things like that get in the way of just being good people. I think it’s important from that perspective that you’re doing your part, being decent and doing something good and right.”
After all, in the famous words of Dolly Parton, life is “not all to be taken” and all to be given.
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