The Dollywood Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
, with headquarters in
Sevierville
Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census.
History
Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...
, Tennessee (as of 2022). Shortly after the opening of the
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 ...
theme park in 1986, the Dollywood Foundation was created in April 1988, and began by offering scholarships to local high school students. From there it grew into the Imagination Library, started in 1995, which distributes free books to children monthly, up until the age of 5.
The Dollywood Foundation grew again into the My People Fund, which started in 2016 after wildfires ripped through
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. The current President of the Dollywood Company is Craig Ross. Today, the foundation continues to grant scholarships and awards, and provides support to numerous non-profit organizations that aim to improve the quality of life of children and others in need.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
The Imagination Library is a free children's book gifting program started by
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
in 1995. It is based at her
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 ...
theme park near
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...
. The program started by offering every child in
Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County ( ) is a county of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,380. Its county seat and largest city is Sevierville. Sevier County comprises the Sevierville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...
, the area where Parton was born and raised, a free age-appropriate book each month in the mail until the age of five, regardless of family income. In 2000, the Imagination Library became so popular that Dolly announced that she wanted to make the program available to any community that would partner with her and support it locally. The program has since expanded to over 1,800 local communities in the
US,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
The program can be implemented in other communities by private or public non-profit organizations, and the Foundation is responsible for the distribution of books in those participating communities and the database that manages the children's information. In 2018, Parton celebrated the delivery of the 100 millionth book since the inception of the program. The Library of Congress hosted an event in February 2018 commemorating the milestone with Parton holding a Story Time to children attending the event. The Imagination Library program currently sends roughly 1.3 million books to children every month. As of 2021, at least 1.7 million children in the U.S. are enrolled, with a net monthly increase of 20,000 to 30,000 children. The program has drastically improved literacy for the children enrolled.
My People Fund
In November 2016, two teenage boys were charged with setting a fire in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, whi ...
, known as the
2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires
The 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, also known as the Gatlinburg wildfires, were a complex of wildfires which began in late November 2016. Some of the towns most impacted were Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, both near Great Smoky Mountains Nati ...
, which killed fourteen people, including two children, and burned down thousands of homes and businesses. Charges against the two juvenile suspects were later dropped due to insufficient evidence. Dolly gathered her Dollywood companies (
Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dolly Parton’s Lumberjack Adventure,
Pirates Voyage,
The Dollywood Company
Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States, and as of 2021, one aquarium in Vancouver, Canada.
Founded by Jack and P ...
) and to establish the ‘My People Fund’
which ultimately donated $1,000 per month to
Sevier County households who lost their homes in the fire. Those collecting charitable donations from the Dollywood Foundation could collect their funds for up to six months. Significant donors to the fund include
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
,
Tanger Outlets
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. ( ) is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that invests in shopping centers containing outlet stores in the United States and Canada.
As of December 31, 2019, the comp ...
,
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
’
Happy Hippie Foundation
The Happy Hippie Foundation is an American non-profit organization founded by entertainer Miley Cyrus on September 17, 2014, and officially launched to the public on May 5, 2015. The foundation focuses on youth homelessness (particularly among L ...
,
CoreCivic
CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the ...
and The Blalock Company. The My People Fund raised over $9 million and assisted more than 900 families.
Scholarships and awards
Having graduated from
Sevier County High School in 1964,
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
launched The Dollywood Foundation in 1988 with the initial intention of raising scholarship funds for local high school students. The Dolly Parton Scholarship was first offered in August 2000. The scholarship would grant a total of $15,000 to four students. With further sponsorship, the scholarship was later offered to four additional high schools including
Seymour,
Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...
, and
Gatlinburg-Pittman.
When the Imagination Library reached its 100-million total book distribution mark, Dolly Parton announced she would be awarding a scholarship to a participant in the library’s program. In November 2016, Parton granted a $30,000 scholarship to a two-year-old girl, one of the library’s newest participants. The little girl was announced as the winner during the Pure & Simple tour stop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The money was placed in an account that will hold the money until the girl enrolls in college. The scholarship, after the 16-year wait, will amount to nearly $50,000.
The Chasing Rainbows Award was created by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) in Parton's name. First presented to Dolly in 2002, the award is now given annually to a deserving teacher who has overcome hardship. The Imagination Library has since partnered with the NNSTOY.
Results
By 2006 the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library had spread to 471 communities in 41 states.
The overall rating of the organization was given 3 out of 4 stars by
charity navigator
Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
. The foundation later spread to the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and Canada. The program helps about 1 million children each month. It is broken down into 6 groups that give recommendations on books depending on when the child was born.
The foundation also gives out scholarships. On April, 30 1988, Dolly Parton launched the Buddy Program that required a student and one friend to sign a contract agreeing that both pupils must graduate and upon completion each of them would receive $500. The Buddy Program caused the drop-out rate to go down to 6% and kick started her community into creating initiatives to keep kids in school. Awards are made in the following areas: music, academics, and the environment.
References
External links
Dollywood Foundation WebsiteThe Imagination Library
{{Dollywood
Dollywood
Educational foundations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Tennessee