Dolly Parton is lending a helping hand to the victims of the devastating Hurricane Helene.
The singer announced Friday that she, along with her companies, will partner with Walmart to provide donations to aid those impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
Parton made the announcement at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee.
“I’m sure a lot of you wondering where I’ve been,” Parton said during the event. “Everybody’s saying, ‘Where’s Dolly?’ Well, I’ve been like everybody else trying to absorb everything going on, trying to figure out all the best ways to do this.”
Parton, who is a Sevierville, Tennessee, native, went on to say, “I look around, and think these are my mountains, these are my valleys. These are my rivers flowing like a stream… These are my people and this is my home.”
She continued, “Remember when we had the fires, everybody pitched in, tried to do everything that they could. And so I really think that this is a time for me to step up again for all of us to step up and do what we can. Today, I wanted to announce that from myself personally just from my own bank account, I’m donating a million dollars today, but there’s a lot to be done, and we’re trying to find other ways to even raise more funds.”
In addition to Parton’s personal donation, the singer announced that through her business enterprises — Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, and the Dollywood Foundation — another $1 million donation will be matched and made to the Mountain Ways Foundation nonprofit.
“But also with my Dollywood companies and all the people I’m involved with… we’ve added another million dollars to that $1 million so we’re starting out with a good little chunk and like I said we’re trying to find other new ways to make money cause it’s going to take a lot of money, as you know. And it’s going to take a long time. There’s still so much more to do.”
“I am totally with you because I am part of you. I love you,” Parton said.
The donation marks another philanthropic effort from the legendary country singer. In 2020, Parton donated $1 million toward vaccine research at Vanderbilt University, which aided in funding Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In 2021, she donated toward relief efforts for those impacted by the flooding in Middle Tennessee, and in 2016, she launched the My People Fund which aided families impacted by the Tennessee wildfires in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Parton also launched the Imagination Library in 1995, a book gifting program that mails books to children from birth to age 5 regardless of their family’s income.