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A timeline of the country superstar's biggest philanthropic efforts.
8/25/2026
Dolly Parton photographed on July 6, 2020 in Nashville. Miller Mobley
Dolly Parton was more than a country icon. She was also one of the entertainment world’s most prolific philanthropists, using her success to support causes ranging from childhood literacy and education to healthcare, disaster relief and more.
Following her death at age 80 on Tuesday (Aug. 25), Parton’s charitable legacy remains as impactful as her music. From the launch of the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to the creation of her Imagination Library in 1995, she spent decades giving back to communities and causes close to her heart. By 2025, the Imagination Library alone gifted more than 300 million books to children around the world, providing free, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five.
Parton’s philanthropy also reached the worlds of medical research, education and emergency relief. In 2020, she donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University, a contribution that helped support research that led to the development of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. She also donated millions of dollars to organizations including children’s hospitals and provided substantial aid to communities affected by natural disasters.
Her generosity continued into the final years of her life. In 2024, she contributed $1 million toward Hurricane Helene relief efforts in East Tennessee, while her businesses and the Dollywood Foundation contributed an additional $1 million. In 2025, her Imagination Library gifted more than 40 million books to children.
See below for a timeline of the country star’s biggest philanthropic efforts and the charitable legacy she leaves behind.
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1988 – The Dollywood Foundation
Parton originally launched the organization in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee, with the goal of decreasing high school drop out rates. She then started the Buddy Program, in which Parton gave $500 to every seventh and eighth grader who finished high school. According to the organization, the initiative was successful and the dropout rate declined from 35 percent to just 6 percent.
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1989 – $500 scholarship
Parton offered a $500 scholarship to every student in Sevier County who wished to attend Hiwassee College.
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1991 – Eagle Mountain Sanctuary at Dollywood
The 30,000-square-foot aviary managed by the American Eagle Foundation shelters the largest collection of “non-releasable” bald eagles. Parton’s efforts to preserve the bald eagle earned her the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2003.
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1995 – Imagination Library
The Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library began sending one book per month to each enrolled child in Sevier County from birth until their first year of school. The library was founded in honor of Parton’s father, who was unable to read.
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2000 – The Dolly Parton Scholarship
Every year, the $15,000 college scholarship is offered to five high school seniors in Sevier County, Tennessee. According to the Dollywood Foundation, the scholarship is awarded to those who “have a dream they wish to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams.”
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2007 – Benefit concert for new Sevier County hospital
The concert raised $500,000, and both Dollywood and Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner theater pledged $250,000 each to the project, for a total of $1 million. LeConte Medical Center, the new hospital and cancer center in Sevier County, opened in 2010 and features a 30,000-square-foot Dolly Parton Center for Women’s Services.
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2016 – Telethon after devastating East Tennessee wildfires
The Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund, which aimed to help residents hit hardest in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, raised more than $13 million. Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Kenny Rogers, Lauren Alaina, Alison Krauss, Reba McEntire, Cyndi Lauper and more appeared at the event.
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2016 – My People Fund
To continue her wildfire relief efforts, Parton launched the My People Fund, which provided $1,000 a month for six months to families whose homes were completely destroyed amid the natural disaster. The fund also donated around $8.9 million to those in need. The initiative still helps residents pay for rent and utilities, plus food and mental health resources.
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2016 – Special Merit Scholarship
Parton awarded a $30,000 scholarship to two-year-old Evey Johns in celebration of Imagination Library’s accomplishment of shipping out one million books per month.
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2017 – $1 million donation
Following the release of her I Believe in You children’s album, Parton donated $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in honor of her niece, who was treated for leukemia at that hospital.
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2020 – Coronavirus efforts
Parton donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University, which helped fund Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna’s vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus, according to early data.
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2021 – Middle Tennessee Flooding Relief
Parton and her Smoky Mountain businesses raised $700,000 to help residents impacted by the catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee in October 2021. Parton chose United Way of Humphreys County to receive and distribute the donation at the suggestion of her friend and fellow country music legend Loretta Lynn.
“After the Sevier County wildfires in 2016, Loretta was one of the first who reached out to offer anything she could,” Parton said in a statement at the time. “It meant so much to me that Loretta — and so many folks — were ready to give in any way they could. This was just one small way I could help Loretta’s people for all they did to help my people. I hope that this money can be put to good use to help the people of Middle Tennessee with what they need during their recovery.”
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2022 – Dollywood Education Coverage
The Dollywood Co. announced in February 2022 that it will cover 100% of tuition, fees and books for any employee who is furthering their education.
The investment in employee education was made via Herschend Enterprises, Dollywood’s operating partner. The program is available to all seasonal, part-time and full-time employees at Dollywood Parks & Resorts. Herschuend’s GROW U. offers more than 100 fully funded diploma, degree and certificate programs with 30 learning partners in areas including business administration and leadership, culinary, finance, technology and marketing. The company also provides partial funding — up to $5,250 per year — for 150 additional programs in fields including hospitality, engineering, human resources and more. Employees can enroll in the program on their first day of employment.
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2022 – Pediatric Infectious Disease Research Donation
Parton made yet another $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in June 2022, this time aimed at helping pediatric infectious disease research.
The donation will aid Vanderbilt’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases to continue its effort in understanding how viruses and bacteria cause disease, understanding and preventing resistance to antibiotics, diagnosing and treating infections in children with cancer and more.
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2022 – Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy
Parton received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022. The award, presented by the international family of Carnegie institutions to honor innovative philanthropists, debuted in 2001 and is normally awarded every two years. It was not issued in 2021 due to the pandemic. -
2023 – $1 million donation to the Salvation Army
In December of 2023, Parton donated $1 million to The Salvation Army, with the money allocated to food and grocery programs across the U.S. The organization said the gift would provide roughly 2.5 million meals to people in need.
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2024 – $2 million toward Hurricane Helene relief
Following Hurricane Helene’s devastation in the Southeast, Parton provided $1 million from her personal funds for the Mountain Way’s Foundation, which provides assistance to flood victims. Her East Tennessee businesses and the Dollywood Foundation pledged an additional $1 million, bringing the combined contribution to $2 million.
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2025 – Imagination Library reaches 300 million books donated
Parton’s Imagination Library gifted more than 40.3 million books to children in 2025, marking a 9.9% increase from the previous year and bringing the program’s total books gifted since its 1995 launch to more than 304.5 million. The program, which provides free books to children from birth to age 5, also celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. In July 2026, Parton thanked Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for their $2 million donation to the Imagination Library, saying she was “blown away and overjoyed” by the gift.
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