Dolly Parton's legacy of giving: Inside her decades of philanthropy
Dolly Parton, the country music legend who died Tuesday at age 80, leaves behind a legacy that extends far beyond her music.
Throughout her life, Parton gave back through philanthropic efforts that supported childhood literacy, medical research and people in need, particularly in her home state of Tennessee.
Parton's death was announced by her publicist. No cause of death was provided.
One of Parton's philanthropic efforts was Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the book-gifting program she started in 1995.
Parton launched the program in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee, inspired by her father, who could not read or write.
The program, which provides free books each month to children from birth to age 5, regardless of their family's income, eventually expanded across the U.S. and internationally.
"If you can read, you can self-educate yourself, and you're just lost if you can't," Parton told "Good Morning America" in 2021.
"I just think it's important for children to learn to read in the early years, to learn to love books and all that," she said at the time.
Following Parton's death, the Library of Congress remembered her in a post on X as a "music legend and titan of children's literacy."
The Library of Congress noted that Parton's Imagination Library received multiple Library Literacy Awards and that in 2018, Parton visited the library to donate the program's 100 millionth book to its collection and host a story time.
Parton's philanthropic efforts were also remembered by current and former world leaders.
President Donald Trump said he directed American flags to be lowered for the next week, writing in a social media post in part: "This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will."
Former President Bill Clinton remembered Parton in a social media post Tuesday, writing, in part: "She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy."
Parton's philanthropy also extended to medical research.
In 2020, Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to support research into COVID-19.
The donation created the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund and helped support early research connected to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. Vanderbilt later confirmed that Parton's money funded what a researcher described as "critical" early stages of the vaccine research.
Two years later, Parton donated another $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to support pediatric infectious disease research.
The donation supported research into infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance, and the diagnosis and treatment of infections in children with cancer.
"I love children," Parton said in a statement announcing the donation. "No child should ever have to suffer, and I'm willing to do my part to try and keep as many of them as I can as healthy and safe as possible."
Parton also stepped in to help communities affected by natural disasters.
After devastating wildfires swept through East Tennessee in 2016, Parton established the My People Fund, which provided $1,000 per month for six months to families who lost their homes.
Years later, Parton again gave back following Hurricane Helene. In 2024, she announced she was donating $1 million of her own money to relief efforts, with another $1 million donated by her businesses.
Her decades of charitable work earned Parton the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022.
For Parton, giving back was closely tied to where she came from and the people she hoped to help.
"I'm just so proud to have been a part of anything that's good and that's making life a little better for people," she told "GMA" in 2021.
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