It turns out Dolly Parton has been quietly funding high school bands for decades
When you talk about country music, you should also talk about the one and only, Dolly Parton.
It’s almost safe to say that her name is synonymous with country music itself.
She is also a songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman.
She sold over 100 million records worldwide, and built her own music label called “Dolly Records.”
But she does other things, too.
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There is no doubt, she is a music icon.
But apart from her success in music, Dolly Parton is also known for her big heart.
She gives and gives and gives.
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It’s no secret to some of us that she’s a charitable and generous person who knows how to lend a helping hand when needed.
Although she really doesn’t want to announce her charity works because she prefers helping people without being noticed.
One of her good deeds that has gone unnoticed is her years of quietly funding high school bands.
She footed the bill for everything.
As revealed on Twitter by journalist and writer Michael Harriot, Parton has been footing the bill for instruments, equipment, uniforms, and other expenses for several black high school bands for years.
“Here’s a quietly wonderful thing I noticed: If you talk to someone who was in choir or band at a majority Black HS, you’ll eventually discuss those annoying fundraisers for uniforms, instruments, etc. & a SURPRISING number will casually say: ‘Oh, Dolly Parton paid for ours,’” Harriot wrote in his tweet.
To back up the revelation, some people came forward.
Students in the thread confirmed it.
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“One year we played Sevier County High School…and DANG that band was equipped — uniforms, instruments, flags, everything. Mountain area, much poverty. Paid for by Dolly Parton. That woman is a national treasure,” she wrote.
Another Twitter user shared how Dolly Parton paid for students at Pigeon Forge Middle School to have their own lockers after learning that two or more students were sharing a locker.
One person also said that he knew a funeral director who said that Parton used to regularly pay for funeral services of people who couldn’t afford it.
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While Upworthy said in a report that the county music icon donated to a lot of schools in her hometown of Sevier County.
Parton’s Buddy Contract program which was established in 1988 has been giving $1,000 to every student in 7th and 8th grade who pairs up and graduates.
The only condition of the program is that students shouldn’t drop out of school and they must help each other with issues that might make them drop out.
Once a student encounters problems that are out of their hands, they’re asked to personally write directly to Parton for help.
According to PinkNews reports, Parton also pays students’ tuition fees in full, books, and any other fees for all of her Dollywood employees who go to college.
But her generosity doesn’t stop there.
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Dolly’s Imagination Library donates books to children from birth until they turn 5 years old and this program of hers has been running for about 27 years.
During natural disasters like the devastating fires that hit Gatlinburg, TN, Parton was also there and donated more than $12.5 million to all the affected individuals and families.
She gave $1,000 per month to 900 families and did it for 6 consecutive months.
It’s unheard of.
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In fact, her foundation even made it $5,000 during the last month.
When the pandemic started, Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical when it was working together with Modern while developing the first COVID-19 vaccine.
“’Aunt Dolly’ is celebrated in our home. She emailed my daughter on her birthday last weekend. So much of Nashville/TN has her explicit and implicit stamp on it. Dolly, like Wu-Tang, is for the children,” one person wrote on Harriot’s thread.
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Because of her charity works, Parton was honored with the 2022 Friend of Education Award from the National Education Association for her Imagination Library project.
She’s indeed a national treasure and a true advocate of education.
Learn more about the pure-heartedness that is Dolly in the video below!
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Source: Twitter – @michaelharriot, National Education Association