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While Dolly Parton’s music is a major part of her legacy, people will also remember her for her philanthropic work. Parton gave millions back to her local community and the world at large. She spoke about the importance of philanthropy.

Dolly Parton gave to many philanthropic causes

One of Parton’s biggest philanthropic focuses was her Imagination Library. The program mails free books to children under the age of five to boost childhood literacy. She founded it in honor of her father, who could not read. 

“If you can read, even if you can’t afford education, you can go on and learn about anything you want to know. There’s a book on everything,” she told NPR. “So I just think that it’s important for kids to be encouraged to read, to dream and to plan for a better life and better future.”

The program mails books to children in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Parton has also poured millions into healthcare-related causes. She gave $1 million to fund research in the coronavirus vaccine. She also helped raise money to open a new hospital in Sevier County. This is now home to the Dolly Parton Center for Women’s Services. She also teamed up with the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, which became the Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.

Parton gave even more back to her home state after devastating wildfires swept through eastern Tennessee in 2016. She launched the My People fund, which gave $1,000-per-month stipends to all affected families. The stipends lasted for six months, with the families receiving $5,000 in the final month. The fund also raised scholarship money for students who lost their homes.

In 2024, she donated $2 million to disaster relief efforts in eastern Tennessee following Hurricane Helene.

She also gave back to the natural world. Her theme park, Dollywood, has a sanctuary to protect bald eagles from extinction and a waystation for migrating monarch butterflies.

Parton regularly donated to a number of smaller charitable organizations. She also had a long-documented history of supporting HIV/AIDS awareness, including producing the 1989 documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. In addition, she gave her song “You Gotta Be My Baby” to an album raising money for research.

Dolly Parton received awards for her philanthropy

In 2022, Parton received the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. In her acceptance speech, she shared her approach to charity.

“I just give from my heart,” she said, adding, “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.”

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She also received the $100 million Bezos Courage and Civility Award from Jeff Bezos. She could donate the money to causes of her choice.

“When people are in a position to help, you should help,” she said when she accepted it. “And I know that I’ve always said, ‘I try to put my money where my heart is.’ And I think you do the same thing. I will do my best to do good things with this money. Thank you, Jeff.”

She shared the origins of her charitable works

Parton said she started giving back once she started to appear on The Porter Wagoner Show. She began giving scholarships to students at her hometown high school.

“I started it before I even had the Dollywood [amusement] park,” she told Vogue. “I started giving out scholarships at the Sevier County High School, back when I had my first job with The Porter Wagoner Show.”

In the 1990s, she told middle schoolers in Sevier County that she would give them and a partner $500 if they graduated high school. This reduced the dropout rate from 35% to 6%.

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