Dolly Parton spent decades accumulating vast wealth, but she became just as well known for giving it away, pouring millions of dollars into efforts aimed at improving the lives of others.
Parton's businesses include Dollywood, hotels and resorts, pet apparel, food ingredients, clothing, and most recently, truck stops. Beyond being a singer-songwriter, Parton was also a serial entrepreneur, and most admirably, a staunch philanthropist.
Donating to countless causes and starting several charities, Parton donated millions of dollars and other resources during her life. Most notably, she started the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in 1995, which, as of 2026, has donated more than 332 million books to more than 3 million children around the world,
according to the organization's website.
"I think it's important for everyone to do their share to help their fellow man," Parton said while accepting the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022.
"I just give from my heart. 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," she continued.
Beyond her library, Parton pledged funds and resources to disaster relief, medical research and education.
Here are just a few of her most notable philanthropic actions.
Dolly Parton launches the Dollywood Foundation and 'Buddy Program'
Two years after the opening of Dollywood in 1986, Parton started the Dollywood Foundation in Sevier County to address high school dropout rates in her home community. The foundation's "Buddy Program" paid students who completed high school $500.
According to the Dollywood Foundation, dropout rates fell from 35% to just 6% after the program's creation.
In addition to the "Buddy Program," the Dollywood Foundation expanded its commitment to education by establishing the Dolly Parton Scholarship in 2000, awarding $15,000 to five Sevier County high school seniors each year.
Dolly Parton's benefit concert for new Sevier County Hospital
In 2007, Parton and the Dollywood Foundation hosted a benefit concert that raised $500,000 for the LeConte Medical Center in Sevier County. Beyond the concert, Parton also pledged another $500,000, donating funds from Dollywood and her Dolly Parton's Stampede dinner theater.
Opening in 2010, the LeConte Medical Center in Sevier County cost a total of $115 million and features a 30,000-square-foot Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services.
Dolly Parton's telethon after the East Tennessee wildfires
After the 2016 wildfires devastated Smoky Mountain communities, Parton brought together her fellow musicians for "The Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund" telethon.
Joined by Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Kenny Rogers, Lauren Alaina, Allison Krauss, Reba McEntire, Cyndi Lauper, Parton's telethon raised more than $12 million, according to WBIR.
The My People Fund provided $1,000 monthly for six months to families whose homes were uninhabitable or were destroyed by the wildfires.
Dolly Parton's donations to Vanderbilt University Medical Center
After the release of her "I Believe in You" children's album in 2017, Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in honor of her niece Hannah Dennison, who was treated for leukemia there.
Amid the 2020 pandemic, Parton also donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt, helping fund Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, which launched in December, months after Parton's donation in April.
In 2022, Parton made yet another $1 million donation to Vanderbilt, donating to the university's pediatric infectious disease research.
Dolly Parton contributes to Hurricane Helene relief
Following Hurricane Helene's devastation to west North Carolina and East Tennessee in 2024, Parton provided $1 million for the Mountain Way's Foundation, providing resources to those affected by the floods brought on by the hurricane.
Following Hurricane Helene's devastation in western North Carolina and East Tennessee in 2024, Parton provided $1 million to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which provided resources to those affected by the floods brought on by the hurricane.
Parton's businesses and the Dollywood foundation donated an additional $1 million to the relief effort.
'Transformative' gift to Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital
After East Tennessee Children's Hospital announced in February that it would be renamed in Parton's honor, the country singer promised "to help however I can."
Parton's support came in the form of a major donation, which Hospital CEO Matt Schaefer described as a "generational and transformational commitment to Children's and its mission" in a March interview with Chief Healthcare Executive.
The amount of the donation was not disclosed.
"That commitment is something that goes beyond our wildest expectations, that is beyond generous and will be a lifeline for this mission for now and for years to come. And we're excited about and humbled by her willingness to do so," he continued in the interview.
Peter Burditt covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact him at PBurditt@nashvill.gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton gave away millions. A look at her biggest donations
