Dolly Parton was a woman who led with her heart. After her death on Aug. 25, the Queen of Country will be remembered not only for her worldwide music stardom, but for her compassion and generosity that touched so many, especially folks in East Tennessee.
"I believe in family, I believe in love, and I believe that together we can change the world," Parton said in 2019 while accepting the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Peacemaker Award from the We Are Family Foundation.
For Parton, that mission of change began at home. Her philanthropy spanned countries and continents, as did her fame. But Parton never forgot her roots, always working to meet the needs of her community and "her people."
The Dollywood Foundation began with a focus on Dolly's hometown
The Dollywood Foundation, which gives back around the world today, started
locally in 1988 with an emphasis on education to address the high dropout rate in Sevier County. As one of the foundation's first initiatives, she created the Buddy System, which pledged to give $500 to each student in the county who graduated from high school in 1992 and 1993, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported in 1988. That amounted to a possible total of $850,000.
The same year, Parton funded new science and computer equipment at schools and offered scholarships at each Sevier County high school.
Her support of the education system in her home region continued in $10,000 donation in 1989 to Pi Beta Phi Elementary School's arts and crafts program − which had been facing possible cancellation − and a $500,000 in 1992 for the Sevier County School System. At the time, this was the largest lump-sum grant the school district had received.
The foundation continued to center its efforts on Sevier County through 1993 when it awarded more than $14,000 in scholarships to 12 high school graduates in the area. The Dolly Parton Foundation now offers five $15,000 scholarships available for students in Sevier County, according to its website.
Dolly Parton started Imagination Library in Sevier County
Although the Imagination Library is loved across the globe, Parton's iconic program began as another way to bolster education in her home county. In 1995, Parton announced the Dollywood Foundation would be offering each preschooler in Sevier County their own Imagination Library, the News-Sentinel reported that year.
Kids would receive a book a month until they enrolled in kindergarten, plus their own bookcase to put them in. The first book scheduled to be sent out was "The Little Engine That Could."
Parton celebrated critters with Eagle Mountain Sanctuary
Parton's commitment to making a better world extended beyond the classroom, and her generosity soared to new heights with a project meant to help the United States' national bird.
With the bald eagle listed as endangered in the lower 48 states from 1978 to 1995, a collaboration began in 1990 between the American Eagle Foundation and Dollywood. A grand opening for Eagle Mountain Sanctuary was held at the park the following year.
Eagle Mountain Sanctuary was the largest exhibit of non-releasable bald eagles in the U.S., until storm damage to the enclosure in April 2026 led to the eagles being moved permanently to the American Eagle Foundation's Kodak campus. Dollywood continued to offer the"Wings of America Birds of Prey"show to introduce raptors to visitors, however.
Health care was another cause Dolly Parton cared about
Parton also supported access to health care in East Tennessee.
In 1997, Parton and Dollywood gave $100,000 for a new birthing center to be built at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center. And when LeConte Medical Center replaced Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in 2010, it included a new Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services.
Parton helped raise $1 million for the hospital, with $500,000 from the Dollywood Foundation and Dolly Parton's Stampede, another one of her Pigeon Forge attractions. The other half from a benefit concert in 2007, the News-Sentinel reported in 2010. She also contributed handmade rocking chairs created by Dollywood craftsmen for the nursery and books from the Imagination Library for the pediatric emergency department waiting room.
Parton visited the hospital ahead of its public opening and dedicated a prayer she'd written for the new medical center: "Dear God, we ask your blessing upon this place today. Bless our hands, our hearts and minds, our deeds in every way. Let your light shine bright on us to guide us in our work. Let your love and healing powers mend all pain and hurt. Work through us, Lord, that we might better serve our fellow man, In body, mind and spirit ... in Jesus' name, Amen."
In 2026, Parton gave the East Tennessee Children's Hospital in Knoxville a significant donation - and her name. Retitled the Dolly Parton Children's Hospital, the nonprofit health care system incorporated Parton's signature pink butterfly into its logo, and announced that its partnership with Parton would help to expand pediatric care services, including to rural communities across the region.
Parton also served as an honorary chairperson of the Dr. Thomas F. Thomas Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that supports Sevier County's health care needs. The foundation is named for the doctor who delivered her.
Dolly supported 'my home and my people' in wake of Gatlinburg fires
Parton announced her My People Fund less than 48 hours after a deadly wildfire swept through Gatlinburg in 2016. More than 2,500 homes were destroyed and 14 people were killed in the disaster, and Parton used her position to offer financial support to people who were affected.
"It was just one of those things that God had his hand in it," she said a year after the fire. "I got to get a lot of credit for a lot of hard work that a whole lot of people did. But I was just happy since it is my home and my people that I was able to be the one to kind of stand out front and do whatever I had to do. But I was just so thankful for that."
The fund, administered by the Dollywood Foundation, ultimately gave more than $8 million to folks whose homes were destroyed in the disaster. A total of $10,000 was given to 875 Gatlinburg residents, and $3 million was left over from a telethon held by Parton to raise funds. That additional money was donated to the nonprofit Mountain Tough.
In 2019, Parton used the fund to give $20,000 to eight Sevier County volunteer fire departments, along with $40,000 to the area training center.
Hurricane Helene flooding brought Dolly home to help
When a natural disaster again brought destruction to Parton's doorstep, she continued to show up for East Tennessee.
Following Hurricane Helene's devastating flooding in states throughout the Southeast, including in a handful of East Tennessee counties, Parton announced a $1 million donation in 2024 to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit that offered relief and recovery assistance to flood victims. Her East Tennessee businesses and the foundation matched that donation with an additional $1 million.
Dollywood became a donation drop-off site in the aftermath of Helene, collecting a variety of disaster relief supplies. The theme park gave out protective gear for cleanup, along with disposable serving ware and utensils, and collaborated with sponsorship partner Coca-Cola to donate a semitruck of water for distribution in flood-ravaged Cocke County.
Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dolly Parton led with her heart, launched charity work in Sevier County
